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— V/N^ 


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,„JiLkA^ 


ALEXANJjtK    II..    E.Mi'tKuK   UK    RUSSIA. 


Meiikmki-  Mlrau,  rnK   New  Sulpan  ok    ri'KKHv. 


^•'•yn*  S.  Vucm/rh 


THE 


Russo-TurkisiiWar 


COMPRISING 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SERVIAN  INSURRECTION, 

THR 

Dreadful  Massacre  of  Christians  in  Bulgaria 

AND    OTHHR 

TURKISH  ATROCITIES, 


THE    TRANSACTIONS    AND    NEGOTIATIONS    OF    THE   CONTENDING    POWERS 

PRELIMINARY    TO    THE    PRESENT    STRUGGLE,    THE    MILITARY 

RESOURCES  AND  DEFENCES  OF  THE  COMBATANTS, 


STIRRING  BATTLES"«THRILLiG  iClDENTSil  WAR 

TO(, ETHER    WITH 

A     HISTORY    AND     DESCRIPTION    OF     RUSSIA     AND    THE    RUSSIANS, 
THE    RISE.    PROGRESS    AND    DECLINE    OF    THE    OTTOMAN 
EMPIRE.  AND  SKETCHES  OF  THE  PEOPLE.  MAN- 
NERS AND  CUSTOMS  AND   DOMESTIC 
LIFE  OF  BOTH  NATIONS. 


R  GRANT   BARNWELL, 

AUTHOK    OP   "  THE    LIFE   OF    MOODY   AND  SANKBV,"   ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH  MAPS  AND  NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS. 


SAN  FRANCISCO,  CALIFORNIA: 
A.   ROMAN  &  COMPANY, 

II     MONTCOMKKY    SfRliliT. 


^y,' 


► 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1 877,  by 

John  E.  Potter  &  Company, 

In  the  onice  of  tlie  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


The  eyes  of  thinking  people  are  now  turned  to  the  great  struggle  in 
Eastern  Europe  for  the  supremacy  of  the  Bosphorus,  and  to  the  effort 
of  the  Slavonic  races  of  the  Danube  to  throw  off  the  Turkish  yoke. 
The  desire  of  the  Russians  to  possess  themselves  of  Constantinople  is 
as  old  as  the  nation  itself  It  has  its  origin,  not  in  political  ambition 
only,  but  in  a  determination  to  rescue  from  infidel  bondage  their 
brothers  of  the  Slavonic  race  and  of  the  Orthodox  Church.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  Russian  Christians  under  the  Tartar  domination  was  very 
like  the  present  position  of  the  Christians  in  Turkey.  For  some  time 
after  the  conquest,  Russia  was  ruled  as  Bulgaria  is  now ;  then  she 
obtained  her  rights  and  powers  similar  to  those  of  Servia  and  Rou- 
mania  at  the  present  day;  and  ultimately  she  gained  complete  inde- 
pendence. Thus  the  Russians  long  formed  the  vanguard  in  the  cause 
of  Slavonic  emancipation.  They  were  the  first  of  the  Slavonic  people 
to  fall  under  the  Tartar  yoke,  and  the  first  to  emancipate  themselves. 
This  they  have  not  forgotten  ;  and  we  cannot  wonder  that  they  slM)uld 
now  sympathize  with  those  kindred  races  which  are  striving  to  follow 
their  example. 

Encamped  for  four  centuries  in  Europe,  the  Turks  have  deviated 
but  little  from  the  manners  and  customs  of  their  Asiatic  forefathers. 
Although,  from  the  day  that  the  cannoa  of  Mohammed  the  Second 
opened  the  breach  in  the  wall  of  Constantinople — which  still  exists,  to 
attest  the  fall  of  the  Emperor  of  the  East — they  have  been  undisputed 
masters  of  the  fairest  and  richest  dominion  upon  earth ;  yet  the  great 
body  of  them  still  retain  the  primitive  customs  and  habits  which  they 
brought  with  them  from  the  mountains  of  Koordistan.  They  have  in 
no  degree  either  shared  in  the  improvement,  or  adopted  the  manners, 


vi  PREFACE. 

or  acquired  the  knowledge  of  their  European  neighbors.  Notwith- 
standing their  close  proximity  to,  and  constant  intercourse  with,  the 
democratic  commercial  communities  of  Modern  Europe,  they  are  yet 
the  devout  followers  of  Mohammed  ;  notwithstanding  that  they  every- 
where admit  that  the  star  of  the  Crescent  is  waning  before  that  of  the 
Cross,  they  still  adhere  in  all  their  institutions  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Koran.  They  rely  with  implicit  faith  on  the  aid  of  the  Prophet, 
although  they  are  well  aware  that  the  followers  of  Christ  are  ultimately 
to  expel  them  from  Europe ;  and  themselves  point  to  the  gate  by  which 
the  Muscovite  battalions  are  to  enter  when  they  place  the  cross  upon 
the  dome  of  St.  Sophia. 

In  the  present  volume  it  is  designed  to  give  to  the  American  reader 
a  succinct  account  of  the  relations  existing  between  the  two  nations 
now  at  war,  to  show  the  causes  which,  in  their  gradual  development, 
have  led  to  the  present  conflict,  and  to  present  a  vivid  and  truthful 
picture  of  the  social  and  domestic  life,  habits,  and  surroundings  of  the 
belligerents.  The  author  has  endeavored  to  avail  himself  of  all 
accessible  sources  of  information,  and  from  the  large  accumulation  of 
materials,  he  has  selected  only  such  as  will  be  most  likely  to  interest 
the  general  public.  The  aim  has  been  to  make  the  work  compr.hen- 
sive  in  scope  and  full  in  information ;  and  the  events  narrated  are 
brought  down  to  the  present  date. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PACK 

Early  History  of  Russia '7 


CHAPTER  II. 
Peter  the  Great  to  Nicholas 45 

CHAPTER  III. 
Nicholas  I.  to  Alexander  II 85 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Russian  Peasantry 100 

CHAPTER  V. 
Travelling  in  Russia "2 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  National  Church '24 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  Priesthood ^3^ 

CHAPTER  VIII 
The  Grand  Tour J50 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Trade  and  Industries 169 

CHAPTER  X. 
Russian  Vii.i.ace  Communities 187 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Towns  and  Mercantile  Classes 202 

(vii) 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

'9 


PAGE 

The  Russian  Capital 2i( 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Imperial  Administration 235 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Zemstvo,  or  Local  Administration 251 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Origin  of  the  Turks 266 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Ottoman  Turks 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Decay  of  the  Turkish  Power 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
Constantinople  and  the  Bosphorus 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Christians  in  Turkey 


279 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
Conquest  of  Constantinople 20? 


317 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
Revolts  against  the  Ottoman  Power 333 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Turkish  Administration 341 


355 


365 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Events  Preceding  the  War 380 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  War  in  Servla.  and  Montenegro 300 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
Efforts  for  Peace 414 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

PACK 

The  New  Parliament 43^ 

CHAPTER  XXVn. 
Hostilities  Begun 44' 

CHAPTER  XXVHI. 
Thk  Camp.ugn  in  Asla. 462 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
Operations  in  Bulg.\ria 481 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Passing  the  Balkans 5°' 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Operations  before  PLE^'^■A 5^2 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
Around  Kars 53^ 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Map  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  Kingdom  of  Greece,  and  the  Russian 

Provinces  on  the  Black  Sea 

Alexander  II.,  Emperor  of  Russia 

CosTAN  Pasha,  Civil  Governor  of  Herzegovina 

A  Russian  Peasant  or  Serf 19 

Beggars  in  St.  Petersburg 21 

A  Russian  Camp 23 

Map  of  Russia  and  the  Seat  of  War 25 

A  Peasant  Mother  and  Child 27 

A  Winter  Scene  in  St,  Petersburg 29 

The  Russian  Songstress,  Mademoiselle  Belocca 31 

Russian  Officers  in  Consultation 33 

Russian  Peasant  Girls 35 

The  Russian  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 37 

A  Peasant  Couple  on  the  March 39 

Cynrovitch — the  Future  Emperor  of  Russia 41 

A  Russian  Patriarchal  Church 43 

Cossacks  on  the  March 44 

The  Representatives  of  the  Russian  Government  at  Constantinople  .    47 
The  Emperor  of  Russia  Driving  on  the  Nevski  Prospect,  St.  Petersburg.  49 

Ceremonies  of  Blf^sing  the  Neva,  at  St.  Petershurg 51 

The  Great  Bell  at  Moscow,  OR  the  Tsar  KoLVKoi 53 

Russian  System  of  Feeding  Soldiers  in  Line 56 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  and  Military  (^i  ikeks  of  the  Russian 

Army,  at  St.  Petersburg 59 

A  Review  of  Russian  Troops 61 

Field  Battery  OF  the  Russians  ON  THE  River  Danube 65 

Winter  Camp-Life  of  Russian  Soldiers 67 

Russo-Greek  Church,  Bucharest 71 

(X) 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xi 

PAGE 

Shoeing  Cavalry  Horses  in  Russia 73 

A  Russian  Military  Post  on  the  Pruth 76 

General  Ignatieff,  Russian  Ambassador  at  Constantinople 79 

A  Scene  in  Nevski  Prospect,  near  St.  Petersburg 83 

RationsbeingServedto  A  Detachment  OF  Russian  Soldiers 85 

Soldiers  of  the  Line  after  their  Uniforms 89 

Friends  of  the  Servian  Cause  making  Contributions 91 

Russian  Soldiers  being  Reviewed  by  the  Czar 95 

An  Ambulance  Train  in  Servia  attacked  by  Wolves 97 

The  Fortress  at  Trebizond,  Asia  Minor loi 

Asiatic  Reserves  at  Tiflis 105 

The  Czar  Designating  Additions  to  the  Regular  Army 109 

Nicholas  Shishkin,  Russian  Minister  to  the  United  States 113 

Mounted  Oriental  Soldiers "7 

An  Oriental  Traveller 121 

Kalmuk  Sacrifice 125 

Lighthouse  on  the  Black  Sea,  near  THE  BosPHORUS  . 129 

Princess  of  Montenegro i33 

Fort  Borneo,  Black  Sea 13^ 

Two  Brides,  with  a  Group  of  Kirghis,  of  Siberia 139 

The  Russian  New  Floating  Dock  at  Nicol.\iff 143 

Fortress  Kavibjeh,  on  the  Bosphorus 146 

Souk  and  Family i49 

General  Ignatieff's  Orderly i53 

Camp  Life  in  Russia i57 

A  Russian  Escort  en  route  to  Military  Camp  at  Piva 161 

Fort  Miveanitzia,  Black  Sea 165 

A  Russian  Inn 170 

Grand  Duke  Michael,  Commander  of  the  Russian  Army  in  Asia  ....  173 

Fort  Buatjk  Liman,  Black  Sea 176 

Consecration  of  a  Bulgarian  Banner 179 

A  Military  Reception  IN  St.  Petersburg 1S3 

Russians  Preparing  Supplies  for  THE  Hospitals 186 

Russian  Ladif^  Preparing  for  a  B.\nquet 189 

A  Reunion  of  Russian  Soldiers 193 

Russian  Peasants  AT  Home 197 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Map  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  Kingdom  of  Greece,  and  the  Russian 

Provinces  on  the  Black  Sea 

Alexander  II.,  Emperor  of  Russia 

CosTAN  Pasha,  Civil  Governor  of  Herzegovina 

A  Russian  Peasant  or  Serf '9 

Beggars  in  St.  Petersburg 21 

A  Russian  Camp 23 

Map  of  Russia  and  the  Seat  of  War 25 

A  Peasant  Mother  and  Child 27 

A  Winter  Scene  in  St.  Petersburg 29 

The  Russian  Songstress,  Mademoiselle  Belocca 3^ 

Russian  Officers  in  Consultation 33 

Russian  Peasant  Girls 35 

The  Russian  Grand  Duke  Nicholas 37 

A  Peasant  Couple  on  the  March 39 

Cynrovitch— the  Future  Emperor  of  Ru.-,sia 41 

A  Russian  Patriarchal  Church 43 

Cossacks  on  the  March 44 

The  Representatives  of  the  Russian  Government  at  Constantinople  .    47 
The  Emperor  of  Russia  Driving  on  the  Nevski  Prospect,  St.  Petersburg.  49 

Ceremonies  OF  Blessing  the  Neva,  at  St.  Petersburg 51 

The  Great  Bell  at  Moscow,  or  the  Tsar  Kolvkoi 53 

Russian  System  of  Feeding  Soldiers  in  Line 5^ 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas  and  Military  Officers  of  the  Russian 

Army,  at  St.  Petersburg 59 

A  Review  of  Russian  Troops 61 

Field  Battery  of  the  Russians  on  the  River  Danube 65 

Winter  Camp-Life  of  Russian  Soldiers 67 

Russo-Greek  Church,  Bucharest 7» 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xi 

PAGE 

Shoeing  Cavalry  Horses  in  Russia 73 

A  Russian  Military  Post  on  the  Pruth 76 

General  Ignatieff,  Russian  Ambassador  at  Constantinoi-le 79 

A  Scene  in  Nevski  Prospect,  near  St.  Petersburg 83 

RationsbeingServedto  A  Detachment  OF  Russian  Soldiers 85 

Soldiers  of  the  Line  after  their  Uniforms 89 

Friends  of  the  Servian  Cause  MAKING  Contributions 91 

Russian  Soldiers  being  Reviewed  by  the  Czar 95 

An  Ambulance  Train  IN  Servi A  attacked  BY  Wolves 97 

The  Fortress  at  Trebizond,  Asia  Minor loi 

Asiatic  Reserves  at  Tiflis 105 

The  Czar  Designating  Additions  to  the  Regular  Army 109 

Nicholas  Shishkin,  Russian  Minister  to  the  United  States 113 

Mounted  Oriental  Soldiers "7 

An  Oriental  Traveller 121 

Kalmuk  Sacrifice 125 

Lighthouse  on  THE  Black  Sea,  NEAR  the  Bosphorus  . 129 

Princess  OF  Montenegro i33 

Fort  Borneo,  Black  Sea 136 

Two  Brides,  with  a  Group  of  Kirghis,  of  Siberia 139 

The  Russian  New  Floating  Dock  at  Nicolaiff 143 

Fortress  Kavibjeh,  on  the  Bosphorus 146 

Souk  and  Family i49 

General  Ignatieff's  Orderly i53 

Camp  Life  in  Russia i57 

A  Russian  Escort  EN  route  to  Military  Camp  AT  Pi VA 161 

Fort  Miveanitzia,  Black  Sea 165 

A  Russian  Inn 17° 

Grand  Duke  Michael,  Commander  of  the  Russian  Army  IN  Asia  .    .    .    .  173 

Fort  Blt\'uk  LiMAN,  Black  Sea 176 

Consecration  OF  A  Bulgarian  Banner 179 

A  Military  Reception  IN  St.  Petersburg 1S3 

Russians  Preparing  Supplies  FOR  the  Hospitals 186 

Russian  Ladies  Preparing  FOR  a  Banquet 1S9 

A  Reunion  of  Russian  Soldiers 193 

Russian  Peasants  at  Home 197 


xii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

A  Street  Scene  in  Moscow 201 

The  Mail  Coach  from  Kars  to  Alexandropol,  with  Russian  Escort  .   .  205 
Roumanian  Priests  at  Ploesti,  Blessing  the  Emperor  of  Russia  with 

Bread  and  Wine 209 

Religious  Devotion  on  Board  of  a  Black  Sea  Steamer 213 

Bulgarians  Transporting  Money  UNDER  Escort 217 

View  of  Rustchuk  from  Giurgevo,  on  the  Danube 221 

Russian  Cossacks  Exploring  the  Country 225 

General  Nepokoitschitzky,  Chief  of  the  Staff  of  the  Russian  Army 

on  the  Danube 229 

Winter  Palace  in  St.  Petersburg 233 

Ice-Elephant  and  Fountain 234 

A  Russian  Bath 237 

A  Russian  Village  Smithy 241 

Cossacks  Entrenched  behind  their  Trained  Horses 245 

Lieutenant  T.  Doubassoff,  of  the  Russian  Navy 249 

Oriental  Worship 250 

A  Travelling  Tartar  Family 253 

View  of  Yassy  (Moldavia) 257 

Russian  Peasants 261 

Halt  of  a  Russian  Military  Convoy 265 

Mohammed 267 

Constantinople • 271 

A  Turkish  Mosque 274 

A  Mohammedan  Mosque 275 

Mosque  and  Tomb  of  Sultan  Mohammed 278 

Social  Life  in  Constantinople 281 

Church  of  St.  Sophia,  Constantinople 285 

A  Turkish  Bank  Note 288 

An  Oriental  Prince  and  his  Attendants 292 

A  Curious  Column  near  Constantinople ^.    .   .   .    .  296 

A  Modern  Oriental 3°° 

Interior  of  a  Caf^  at  Constantinople 304 

An  Eastern  MoNARni  in  his  Audience  Chamber 3^7 

A  Mohammedan  Tom  I! 3^^ 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  xJii 

PAGE 

An  Eastern  Band  OF  Musicians 313 

A  Turkish  Bazaar 3^8 

Tartar  Rural  Life 321 

The  Great  Mosque  at  Gaza 325 

An  Egyptian  Orchestra 329 

Exterior  of  a  Modern  Turkish  Church 332 

Oriental  Form  of  Obeisance 334 

Turkish  Fountain 337 

Interior  of  a  Modern  Turkish  House 340 

An  Oriental  Baker 343 

Oriental  Form  of  Worship 345 

A  Sultan's  Mosque 35  ^ 

Modern  Egyptian  Dinner 354 

A  Turkish  Funeral 357 

Servian  Women  Decorating  Graves 361 

An  Ambassadorial  Audience  with  the  Sultan 366 

A  Turkish  Barber 371 

A  Bulgarian  Bridegroom  Sending  Presents  to  his  Bride 375 

A  Turkish  Mosque 379 

A  Woman's  Normal  School  IN  Constantinople 381 

Natives  of  a  Herzegovinian  Province 385 

Moldavian  Stages 390 

Map  of  the  Turkish  States 395 

Woman  of  Mostar 400 

Tartar  Meat  Merchants 405 

The  Doseh 409 

Underground  Houses  on  the  Banks  OF  the  Danube  River 415 

Tartar  Girls  at  School 419 

The  Muezzin  Calling  to  Prayers 423 

Discussing  the  Eastern  Question  at  a  Ministerial  Council,  Constan- 
tinople   427 

A  Travelling  Tsigane  Family 431 

Bulgarian  Villagers  Watching  the  Russian  Approach 435 

An  Egyptian  Pasha  on  his  Divan 438 

Mehemet  Ali,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Army  in  Bulgaria  .  442 


xiv  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Departure  of  Midhat  Pasha  for  Brindisi,  in  Exile 445 

The  New  Iron- Clad  Monitor  Novgorod,  on  the  Danube 449 

The  Advance  Guard — Russian  Army 452 

Abdul  Kerim  Pasha,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Army  ....  455 

On  the  Danube — A  Flight  from  Nicopolis 459 

A  Russian  Battery  Commanding  the  Danube 461 

Hobart  Pasha,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Navy 463 

Opening  Fire  by  the  Russian  Battery  at  Ibraila 467 

View  OF  Widdin,  from  Kalafat 471 

Prince  Charles  of  Roumama • 475 

Combat  between  Cossacks  and  Bashi-Bazcuks 479 

Europeans  Starting  for  a  Ministerial  Ball  in  Constantinople 483 

Apollon  Ernestovitch  Zimmerman 4S7 

Preparing  to  Bridge  the  Danube  from  Widdin  to  Kalafat 491 

The  Grand  Duke  Nicholas,  in  the  Costume  of  a  Circassian  Chief  .    ,    .  494 

Scene  on  a  Turkish  Gunboat 497 

A  Russian  Ambulance  Train 500 

General  Joseph  Vladimirovitch  Gourko 503 

A  Russian  Military  Supply  Train 506 

A  Russian  Monitor  on  the  Danube 509 

Servian  Staff  Officers  and  Monks  holding  Council  in  a  Monastery.  .  .  512 

Reinforcements  Arriving  to  Barricade  THE  Danube 515 

Village  IN  the  Southern  Part  OF  Russia 519 

Feeding  Pigeons  in  Constantinople • 523 

Mehemet  Murad,  the  New  Sultan  of  Turkey 527 

Scene  on  the  Quay  at  St.  Petersburg 530 

Native  Turkish  Troops  Foraging  on  the  March 533 

Bombardment  of  Rustchuk — Scene  in  a  Turkish  Military  Hospital  .  .  535 
Before  Plevna — Turkish  Cavalry  Reconnoissance  and  Repulse  ....  538 
Final  Charge  of  the  Turkish  Cavalry  at  the  Battle  of  Kaceljevo  .  .  541 
The  Costume  of  Russian  Peasants  in  the  Environs  of  St.  Petersburg  .  .  544 

A  Tartar  Family 547 

A  Mountain  Battery  leaving  Constantinople  for  the  Defence  of  the 

Balkans  548 

Assembly  of  Bucharest  (Moldavia) 549 


LI  SI    OF  ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV 

PAC-.H 

A  Turkish  Bayonet  Charge  AT  Shipka 551 

The  Evening  Prayer 552 

New  Contrivance  for  Transporting  Wounded  Bulgarians 553 

Colonel  Wellesley  Inspecting  the  Grivitza  Redoubt 554 

Russian  Attack  on  the  Bridge  and  Town  of  Loftcha 555 

The  Turks  Before  Plevna,  waiting  the  Attack 556 

Turkish  Prisoners  on  their  Way  to  Russla. 558 


The  Russo-Turkish  War. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

The  earliest  annals  of  Russia  only  furnish  occasional  glimpses  of 
numerous  barbarous  hordes  roaming  over  its  surface.  These  nomadic 
tribes,  classed  under  the  common  appellation  of  Sarmatians  and 
Scythians,  at  a  very  early  period  began  to  menace  the  Roman  frontiers, 
and  even  before  the  time  of  Cyrus  the  Great  of  Persia  had  invaded 
what  was  then  called  the  civilized  world,  particularly  Southern  Asia. 
They  inhabited  the  countries  described  by  Herodotus  between  the  Don 
and  the  Dnieper;  and  Strabo  and  Tacitus  mention  the  Raxalani, 
afterward  called  the  Ros,  as  highly  distinguished  among  the  Sarmatian 
tribes  dwelling  in  that  district.  The  Greeks  early  established  colonies 
here ;  and  in  the  second  century  the  Goths  came  from  the  Baltic,  and, 
locating  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Don,  extended  themselves  to  the 
Danube. 

In  the  fifth  century,  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  these  rivers 
was  overrun  by  numerous  migratory  hordes  of  Alans,  Huns,  Avarians, 
and  Bulgarians,  who  were  followed  by  the  Slavi,  or  Slavonians,  a 
Sarmatian  people,  who  took  a  more  northerly  direction  than  their 
predecessors  had  done.  In  the  next  century,  the  Khozari,  pressed 
upon  by  the  Avarians,  entered  the  country  between  the  Volga  and  the 
Don,  conquered  the  Crimea,  and  thus  placed  themselves  in  connection 
with  the  Byzantine  Empire.  These  and  numerous  other  tribes  directed 
the  course  of  their  migrations  toward  the  west,  forced  the  Huns  into 
Pannonia,  and  occupied  the  country  between  the  Don  and  the  Alanta ; 
while  the  Tchoudes,  or  lohudi,  a  tribe  of  the  Finnic  race,  inhabited 
the  northern  parts  of  Russia.  All  these  tribes  maintained  themselves 
by  pasture  and  the  chase,  and  exhibited  the  usual  barbarism  of 
wandering  nomades. 

2  (17) 


18  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

The  Slavonians,  coming  from  the  northern  Danube,  and  spreading 
themselves  along  the  Dnieper,  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  early 
acquired,  from  a  commerce  with  their  southern  neighbors,  habits  of 
civilized  life,  and  embraced  the  Christian  religion.  They  founded  in 
the  country  afterward  called  Russia  the  two  cities  of  Novgorod  and 
Kiev,  which  early  attained  a  commercial  importance.  Their  wealth, 
however,  soon  excited  the  anxiety  of  the  Khozari,  with  whom  they 
were  compelled  to  maintain  a  perpetual  struggle.  But  Novgorod 
found  another  and  more  formidable  enemy  in  the  Varagians,  a  race 
of  bold  pirates  who  infested  the  coast  of  the  Baltic,  and  who  had 
previously  subdued  the  Courlanders,  Livonians,  and  Esthonians.  It 
is  not  improbable  that  those  Varagians  formed  a  part  of  those 
Scandinavian  nations,  who,  under  the  names  of  Danes  and  Saxons, 
successively  made  themselves  masters  of  England.  To  these  bold 
invaders  the  name  of  JRussi,  Busses,  or  Russians,  is  thought  by  the 
most  eminent  authors  to  owe  its  origin.  Be  that,  however,  as  it  may, 
it  appears  certain  that  in  these  dark  ages  the  country  was  divided 
among  a  great  number  of  petty  princes,  who  made  war  upon  each 
other  with  great  ferocity  and  cruelty,  so  that  the  people  were  reduced 
to  the  utmost  misery;  and  the  Slavonians,  seeing  that  the  warlike 
rovers  threatened  their  rising  state  with  devastation,  were  prompted 
by  the  necessity  of  self-preservation  to  offer  the  government  of  their 
country  to  them.  In  consequence  of  this,  a  celebrated  Varagian  chief, 
named  Rurik,  arrived  in  862,  with  a  body  of  his  countrymen,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Lake  Ladoga,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present 
Empire  of  Russia,  by  uniting  his  people  with  those  who  already 
occupied  the  soil. 

Rurik  has  the  credit  of  being  jealous  for  the  strict  administration 
of  justice,  and  enforcing  its  exercise  on  all  the  boyars,  or  nobles  who 
possessed  territories  under  him.  He  died  in  879,  leaving  an  only  son, 
Igor,  who,  being  a  minor,  Oleg,  a  kinsman  of  the  deceased  monarch, 
took  on  himself  the  administration  of  affairs.  The  new  monarch 
appears  very  early  to  have  projected  the  extension  of  his  territories, 
by  annexing  to  them  the  settlement  which  the  Slavi  had  formed  about 
Kiev,  against  which  he  soon  undertook  a  formidable  exjiedition.  He 
collected  a  numerous  army,  and,  taking  with  him  the  young  Prince 
Igor,  opened  the  campaign  with  the  capture  of  Lubitch,  and  of  Smo- 
lensk, the  capital  of  the  Ejriyitsehes.     Having  reduced  several  other 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


19 


A  Russian  Peasant,  or  Serf. 


20  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

towns,  lie  advanced  toward  the  rival  city  of  Kiev,  the  possession  of 
which  formed  the  chief  object  of  his  ambition.  As  he  did  not  think  it 
advisable  to  hazard  an  open  attack,  he  had  recourse  to  artifice ;  and, 
leaving  behind  him  the  greater  part  of  his  troops,  he  concealed  the 
remainder  in  the  vessels  that  brought  them  down  the  Dnieper  from 
Smolensk.  Oleg  himself,  disguising  his  name  and  quality,  passed  for 
a  merchant  sent  by  the  regent  and  his  ward  Igor  on  business  of  impor- 
tance to  Constantinople;  and  he  despatched  ofiicers  to  Oskhold  and 
Dir,  the  two  chieftains  of  the  Kievians,  requesting  permission  to  pass 
through  their  territory  into  Greece,  and  inviting  them  to  visit  him  as 
friends  and  fellow-citizens,  pretending  that  indisposition  prevented  him 
from  paying  his  respects  to  them  in  person.  The  princes,  relying  on 
these  appearances  of  friendship,  accepted  Oleg's  invitation ;  but  when 
they  arrived  at  the  regent's  encampment,  they  were  surrounded  by  the 
Varagian  soldiers,  who  sprang  from  their  place  of  concealment.  Oleg, 
taking  Igor  in  his  arms,  and  casting  on  the  sovereigns  of  Kiev  a  fierce 
and  threatening  look,  exclaimed:  "You  are  neither  princes,  nor  of  the 
race  of  princes ;  behold  the  son  of  Rurik !"  These  words,  which  formed 
the  signal  that  had  been  agreed  on  between  Oleg  and  his  soldiers,  were 
no  sooner  uttered,  than  the  latter  rushed  on  the  two  princes,  and  laid 
them  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  their  master.  The  inhabitants  of  Kiev, 
thrown  into  consternation  by  this  bold  and  treacherous  act,  made  no 
resistance,  but  opened  the  gates  of  their  city  to  the  invader.  By  this 
means  the  two  Slavonian  States  were  united  under  one  head. 

Having  thus  made  himself  master  of  the  key  to  the  Eastern  Empire, 
Oleg  prepared  to  carry  into  effect  his  ambitious  designs  against  Con- 
stantinople. Leaving  Igor  at  Kiev,  he  embarked  on  the  Dnieper  with 
eighty  thousand  warriors  in  two  thousand  vessels.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  imperial  city  had  drawn  a  massy  chain  across  the  harbor, 
hoping  to  prevent  their  landing.  But  the  invaders  drew  ashore  their 
barks,  fitted  wheels  to  their  flat  bottoms,  and  converted  them  into 
carriages,  which,  by  the  help  of  sails,  they  forced  along  the  roads  that 
led  to  the  city,  and  thus  arrived  under  the  walls  of  Constantinople. 
The  Emperor  Leo,  instead  of  making  a  manly  resistance,  is  said  to 
have  attempted  carrying  off  his  enemies  by  poison;  but,  this  not 
succeeding,  he  was  obliged  to  purchase  from  the  conqueror  an 
ignominious  peace.  Oleg  obtained  the  completion  of  his  wishes  by 
the  rich  booty  which  he  carried  off,  and  his  people,  dazzled  with 


EARL  Y  HISTOR  Y  OF  RUSSIA. 


21 


Beggars  in  St.  Petersburg. 

the  brilliant  success  which  attended  his  arms,  thought  him  endowed 
with  supernatural  powers. 

Oleg  maintained  the  sovereign  power  for  thirty-three  years;  nor 
does  it  appear  that  Igor  had  any  share  in  the  government  till  the 
death  of  his  guardian  left  him  in  full  possession  of  the  throne,  a.d.  912, 
at  which  time  he  had  reached  his  fortieth  year.  He  soon  discovered 
marks  of  the  same  warlike  spirit  which  had  actuated  his  predecessor 
Among  the  nations  that  had  been  subjugated  by  Oleg,  several,  on  the 
accession  of  a  new  sovereign,  attempted  to  regain  their  independence ; 
but  they  were  quelled,  and  punished  by  the  imposition  of  a  tribute. 
Igor,  however,  soon  had  to  contend  with  more  formidable  enemies. 
The  Petchenegans,  a  nation  hitherto  unknown,  quitted  their  settle- 
ments on  the  Yaik  and  the  Volga,  and  made  incursions  into  the 
Russian  territory ;  and  Igor,  finding  himself  unable  to  cope  with  them 
in  arms,  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance. 

The  Russian  monarch  was  now  far  advanced  in  years;  but  the 
insatiable  rapacity  of  his  officers,  ever  craving  iresh  spoils  from  van- 


22  EARL  Y  ///STORY  OF  /?USS/A. 

quished  nations,  impelled  him  to  turn  his  arms  against  the  Drevlians, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  them  an  increase  of  their  yearly 
tribute.  In  this  unjust  attack,  he  was  at  first  successful,  and  returned 
loaded  with  the  contributions  which  he  had  levied  on  that  people ;  but 
having  dismissed  a  great  part  of  his  troops  with  the  spoils  of  the 
vanquished,  and  marching  with  the  remainder  too  far  into  the  country, 
he  fell  into  an  ambuscade,  which  the  Drevlians,  now  grown  desperate, 
had  formed,  on  his  approach,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Korosten.  The 
Russians  were  overpowered,  and  Igor,  being  taken  prisoner,  was  put 
to  death.     This  occurred  in  945. 

Before  the  death  of  Oleg,  Igor  had  married  a  princess  of  a  bold  and 
daring  spirit,  named  Olga,  by  whom  he  had  one  son,  SviatoslaflT;  but 
as  he  was  very  young  at  the  death  of  his  father,  the  queen-mother  Olga 
assumed  the  reins  of  government.  Her  first  care  was  to  take  signal 
vengeance  on  the  Drevlians,  who,  satisfied  with  the  death  of  their 
oppressor,  appeared  desirous  of  renewing  their  amicable  intercourse  with 
the  Russians.  Olga,  concealing  her  real  designs  under  a  specious  veil 
of  kindness,  appeared  to  listen  to  their  overtures,  and  received  the 
deputies  of  Male,  but  immediately  ordered  them  to  be  privately  put  to 
death.  In  the  meantime,  she  invited  a  larger  deputation  from  the 
Drevlian  chief,  which  she  treated  in  the  same  manner,  taking  care  that 
no  tidings  of  either  murder  should  be  carried  to  the  Drevlians.  She 
then  set  out,  as  if  on  an  amicable  visit,  to  conclude  the  new  alliance ; 
and  having  proclaimed  a  solemn  entertainment,  to  which  she  invited 
some  hundreds  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  Drevlian  towns,  she 
caused  them  to  be  treacherously  assassinated.  This  was  but  the  first 
step  to  the  dreadful  vengeance  which  she  had  resolved  to  inflict  on  this 
unhappy  people.  She  laid  waste  the  whole  country,  particularly  near 
the  town  of  Korosten,  where  Igor  had  lost  his  life.  For  a  long  time 
she  could  not  master  the  place,  as  the  inhabitants,  dreading  the  hor- 
rible fate  that  awaited  them  from  the  revengeful  spirit  of  Olga,  defended 
themselves  with  valor  and  success.  At  length,  being  assured  of  clem- 
ency, on  condition  of  sending  to  Olga  all  the  pigeons  of  the  town,  they 
submitted  ;  but  Olga,  causing  lighted  matches  to  be  fastened  to  the 
tails  of  the  pigeons,  set  them  at  liberty.  The  birds  flew  to  their  usual 
places  of  residence  in  the  town,  which  were  speedily  in  a  conflagration. 
The  wretched  inhabitants,  endeavoring  to  escape  from  the  flames,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Russian  soldiers,  planted  round  the  town  for  that 


EARL  Y  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


23 


A  Russian  Camp, 


purpose,  by  ■whom  they  were  put  to  the  sword.  Though  not  uncommon 
in  the  annals  of  a  barbarous  people,  this  transaction  is  sufficient  to 
hand  down  the  name  of  Olga  with  detestation  to  posterity.  The  prin- 
cess was,  however,  the  first  of  the  barbarians  who  professed  to  embrace 
Christianity.  She  failed  in  persuading  her  son  to  follow  her  example, 
but  induced  a  few  of  her  subjects  to  do  so. 

It  is  probable  that  Olga  retired  from  the  administration  of  affairs 
soon  after  her  profession  of  Christianity  ;  for  we  find  SviatoslafF  in  full 
possession  of  the  government  in  957,  long  before  his  mother's  death. 
This  prince  has  been  considered  one  of  the  Russian  heroes ;  and  if  a 
thirst  for  blood,  a  contempt  of  danger,  and  disregard  of  the  luxuries 
and  conveniences  of  life,  be  admitted  as  the  characteristics  of  a  hero, 
he  deserves  the  appellation.  He  took  up  his  habitation  in  a  camp, 
where  his  accommodations  were  of  the  coarsest  kind ;  and  when  he  had, 
by  this  mode  of  life,  ingratiated  himself  with  his  troops,  he  prepared 
to  employ  them  in  those  ambitious  projects  which  he  had  long  been 
forming. 

His  first  expedition  was  against  the  Khozari,  a  people  already  men- 
tioned, from  the  shores  of  the  Caspian,  and  the  Caucasian  mountains. 


g4  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

who  had  established  themselves  along  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Black 
Sea.  These  people  had  rendered  tributary  both  the  Kievians  and  the 
Viateches,  a  Slavonian  nation  that  dwelt  on  the  banks  of  the  Oka  and 
the  Volga.  Sviatoslaff,  desirous  of  transferring  to  himself  the  tribute 
which  the  Khozari  derived  from  the  latter  people,  marched  against 
them,  and  appears  to  have  succeeded  in  his  design.  He  defeated  them 
in  a  battle,  and  took  their  capital  city  Sarkel,  or  Belgorod.  It  is  said  by 
some  historians  that  he  annihilated  the  nation ;  and  it  is  certain  that, 
from  that  time,  no  mention  is  made  of  the  Khozari. 

The  martial  fame  of  Sviatoslaff  had  extended  to  Constantinople ;  and 
the  Emperor  Nicephorus  Phocas,  who  was  then  harassed  by  the  Hun- 
garians, assisted  by  his  treacherous  allies  the  Bulgarians,  applied  for 
succor  to  the  Russian  chieftain.  A  subsidiary  treaty  was  entered  into 
between  them,  and  Sviatoslaff  hastened  with  a  numerous  army  to  the 
assistance  of  his  new  allies.  He  quickly  made  himself  master  of  most 
of  the  Bulgarian  towns  along  the  Danube ;  but,  receiving  intelligence 
that  the  Petchenegans  had  assembled  in  great  numbers,  ravaged  the 
Kievian  territory,  and  laid  siege  to  the  capital,  within  the  walls  of 
which  were  shut  up  his  mother  and  his  sons,  he  hastened  to  the  relief 
of  his  family. 

Having  defeated  the  besiegers,  and  obliged  them  to  sue  for  peace,  he 
resolved  to  establish  himself  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube,  and  divided 
his  hereditary  dominions  among  his  children.  He  gave  Kiev  to  Yaro- 
polk ;  the  Drevlian  territory  to  Oleg ;  and  on  Vladimir,  a  natural  son, 
he  bestowed  the  government  of  Novgorod.  On  his  return  to  Bulgaria, 
however,  he  found  that  his  affairs  had  assumed  a  very  different  aspect. 
The  Bulgarians,  taking  advantage  of  his  absence  with  his  troops,  had 
recovered  most  of  their  towns,  and  seemed  well  prepared  to  resist  the 
encroachments  of  a  foreign  power.  They  fell  on  Sviatoslaff,  as  he 
approached  the  Avails  of  Pereiaslavatz,  and  began  the  attack  with  so 
much  fury,  that  at  first  the  Russians  were  defeated  with  great  slaugh- 
ter. They,  hovever,  soon  rallied,  and,  taking  courage  from  despair, 
renewed  the  battle  with  so  much  eagerness,  that  they  in  turn  became 
masters  of  the  field.  Sviatoslaff  took  possession  of  the  town,  and  scoq 
recovered  all  that  he  had  lost. 

During  these  transactions,  the  Greek  Emperor  Nicephorus  had  been 
assassinated,  and  John  Zcniisces,  his  murderer,  had  succeeded  to  the 
imperial  diadem.     The  new  Emperor  sent  embassadors  to  the  Russian 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


26  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

monarch,  requiring  him  to  comply  with  the  stipulations  of  his  treaty 
with  Nicephorus,  and  evacuate  Bulgaria,  which  he  had  agreed  to 
occupy  as  an  ally,  but  not  as  a  master.  Sviatoslaff  refused  to  give  up 
his  newly-acquired  possessions,  and  prepared  to  decide  the  contest  by 
force  of  arms.  He  did  not  live  to  reach  the  capital ;  for  having,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  his  most  experienced  oflicers,  attempted  to  return 
to  Kiev  up  the  dangerous  navigation  of  the  Dnieper,  he  was  intercepted 
by  the  Petchenegans  near  the  rocks  that  form  the  cataracts  of  that 
river.  After  remaining  on  the  defensive  during  the  winter,  exposed  to 
all  the  horrors  of  famine  and  disease,  on  the  return  of  spring,  in  972, 
he  attempted  to  force  his  way  through  the  ranks  of  the  enemy ;  but  his 
troops  were  defeated,  and  himself  killed  in  the  battle. 

Yaropolk,  the  sovereign  of  Kiev,  may  be  considered  as  the  successor 
of  his  father  on  the  Russian  throne;  but  his  reign  was  short  and 
turbulent.  A  war  broke  out  between  him  and  his  brother  Oleg,  in 
which  the  latter  was  defeated  and  slain.  Vladimir,  the  third  brother, 
dreading  the  increased  power  and  ambitious  disposition  of  Yaropolk, 
soon  after  abandoned  his  dominions,  which  were  seized  on  by  the 
Kievian  prince.  Vladimir  had  retired  among  the  Varagians,  fi'om 
whom  he  soon  procured  such  succor  as  enabled  him  to  make  effectual 
head  against  the  usurper.  He  advanced  toward  Kiev  before  Yarapolk 
was  prepared  to  oppose  him.  The  Kievian  prince  had,  indeed,  been 
lulled  into  security  by  the  treacherous  reports  of  one  of  his  voyvodes, 
who  was  in  the  interest  of  Vladimir,  and  who  found  means  to  induce 
him  to  abandon  his  capital,  on  pretence  that  the  inhabitants  were 
disaffected  toward  him.  The  Kievians,  left  without  a  leader,  opened 
their  gates  to  Vladimir ;  and  Yaropolk,  still  misled  by  the  treachery 
of  his  adviser,  determined  to  throw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  his  brother; 
but  before  he  could  effect  this  purpose,  he  was  assassinated  by  some  of 
his  Varagian  followers.  By  this  murder,  which  had  probably  been 
planned  by  Vladimir,  the  conqueror,  in  980,  acquired  the  undivided 
possession  of  all  his  father's  territories. 

The  commencement  of  Vladimir's  reign  formed  but  a  continuation 
of  the  enormities  which  had  conducted  him  to  the  throne.  He  began 
with  removing  Blude,  the  treacherous  voyvode,  by  whom  his  brother 
had  been  betrayed  into  his  power,  and  to  whom  he  had  promised  the 
highest  honors  and  dignities.  The  Varagians,  who  had  assisted  in 
reinstating  him  on  the  throne  of  his  ancestors,  requested  permission  to 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


27 


A  Peasant  Mother  and  Child. 


28  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

go  and  seek  their  fortune  in  Greece.  He  granted  their  request,  but 
privately  advised  the  Emperor  of  their  approach,  and  caused  them 
to  be  arrested  and  secured. 

Vladimir  engaged  in  numerous  wars,  and  subjected  several  of  the 
neighboring  states  to  his  dominion.  He  seized  on  part  of  the  Polish 
territory;  and  compelled  the  Bulgarians,  who  dwelt  in  that  which  now 
forms  the  government  of  Kazan,  to  do  him  homage.  He  subdued  the 
Petchenegans  and  Khazares,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the 
Kievian  state ;  he  reduced  to  his  authority  Halitsch  (or  Kalisch)  and 
Vladimir,  countries  which  are  now  known  as  Galicia  and  Lubomiria ; 
he  conquered  Lithuania  as  far  as'  Memel,  and  took  possession  of  a  great 
part  of  modern  Livonia. 

This  monarch,  having  settled  the  afiairs  of  his  Empire,  demanded  in 
marriage  the  princess  Anne,  sister  to  the  Greek  Empress  Basilius 
Porphyrogenitus.  His  suit  was  granted,  on  condition  that  he  should 
embrace  Christianity.  With  this  the  Russian  monarch  complied;  and 
that  vast  Empire  was  thenceforward  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
patriarchate  of  Constantinople.  Vladimir  received  the  name  Basilius 
on  the  day  he  was  baptized;  and,  according  to  the  Russian  annals, 
twenty  thousand  of  his  subjects  were  baptized  on  the  same  day.  The 
idols  of  paganism  were  now  thrown  down,  churches  and  monasteries 
were  erected,  towns  built,  and  the  arts  began  to  jflourish.  The  Sla- 
vonian letters  were  also  at  this  period  first  introduced  into  Russia ;  and 
Vladimir  sent  missionaries  to  convert  the  Bulgarians,  but  without 
much  success.  "VYe  are  told  that  Vladimir  called  the  arts  from  Greece, 
cultivated  them  in  the  peaceable  periods  of  his  reign,  and  generously 
rewarded  their  professors.  His  merits,  indeed,  appear  to  have  been 
very  considerable.  He  has  been  extolled  by  the  monks  as  the  wisest 
as  well  as  the  most  religious  of  kings ;  his  zealous  exertions  in  pro- 
moting the  profession  of  Christianity  throughout  his  dominions  acquired 
for  him  the  title  of  saint ;  and  succeeding  historians,  comparing  the 
virtues  of  his  character  with  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  have  united 
in  conferring  on  him  the  appellation  of  "  Vladimir  the  Great." 

His  sou  Yaroslav,  who  reigned  thirty-five  years  and  died  in  1054, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  was  a  prince  of  considerable  attainments, 
and  a  great  patron  of  the  arts.  The  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  at  Nov- 
gorod, was  by  his  order  decorated  with  pictures  and  mosaics,  portions 
of  which  are  said  to  remain  to  the  present  time.    His  expedition 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


29 


A  Winter  Scene  in  St.  Petersburgh. 
against  Constantine  XI.,  who  then  held  the  sceptre  of  the  Eastern  or 
Greek  Empire  (though  unsuccessful),  as  well  as  his  acquirements,  and 
the  splendor  in  which  he  lived,  made  his  name  known  and  respected 
throughout  Europe.  Three  of  his  daughters  were  married  to  the 
Kings  of  France,  Norway,  and  Hungary ;  and  his  eldest  son,  Vladimir, 
who  died  before  him,  had  for  wife  a  daughter  of  the  unfortunate 
Harold,  the  last  of  the  Saxon  Kings  of  England. 

Yaroslav,  at  his  death,  divided  his  Empire,  as  was  usually  the  case, 
among  his  sons.  Vladimir  Monomachus,  his  grandson,  who  died  in 
the  early  part  of  the  next  century,  did  the  same ;  and  as  the  Russian 
monarchs  were  blessed,  generally  speaking,  with  a  numerous  offspring, 
the  country  was  continually  a  prey  to  internal  dissensions  and  strife ; 
and  these  family  feuds  were  not  settled  until  an  appeal  had  been  made 
to  the  sword,  which,  being  congenial  to  the  disposition  of  the  people 
and  the  temper  of  the  times,  was  frequently  prolonged  for  years.  In 
the  year  preceding  the  death  of  Monomachus,  Kiev  was  nearly 
destroyed  by  fire ;  and,  from  the  great  number  of  churches  and  houses 


30  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

that  fell  a  prey  to  the  flames,  the  city  must  then  have  been  of  great 
extent  and  opulence.  This  calamity  was  followed  in  the  succeeding 
reign  by  a  still  greater  one,  when  the  sister  capital,  Novgorod,  was 
desolated  by  a  famine  so  awful,  that  the  survivors  were  not  sufficiently 
numerous  to  bury  the  dead,  and  the  streets  were  blocked  up  by  the 
putrid  corpses  of  the  inhabitants ! 

The  reigns  which  followed  this  period  of  Russian  history  are 
distinguished  by  little  else  than  continual  wars  with  the  Poles, 
Lithuanians,  Polovetzes,  and  Tchoudes,  with  this  exception,  that  the 
town  of  Vladimir,  built  by  Yury  L,  in  1157,  became  in  that  year  the 
capital  instead  of  Kiev.  But  a  more  formidable  enemy  than  the 
inhabitants  of  the  countries  and  tribes  already  mentioned  drew  near 
the  Muscovite  territory,  in  the  person  of  Tuschki,  the  son  of 
Zinghis  Khan,  who,  emigrating  with  his  Tartars  westward,  led  them, 
about  the  year  1223,  from  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Aral  and  the 
Caspian  to  those  of  the  Dnieper.  The  Circassians  and  Polovetzes, 
having  endeavored  in  vain  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  horde, 
were  at  length  constrained  to  apply  to  their  hitherto  inveterate  foes 
for  assistance ;  and,  the  cause  being  now  equally  dear  to  all  parties, 
the  Russians  made  an  intrepid  stand  on  the  banks  of  the  Kalka.  The 
impetuous  attack,  however,  of  the  invaders  was  not  to  be  withstood, 
and,  the  Prince  of  Kiev  treacherously  abstaining  from  taking  part  in 
the  battle,  the  Russians  were  completely  routed,  and  scarcely  a  tenth 
part  of  an  army  composed  of  one  hundred  thousand  men  escaped.  The 
enemy  then  pursued  his  way  unmolested  to  the  capital,  which  he  took, 
and  put  fifty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  principality  of  Kiev  to 
the  sword.  The  further  progress  of  the  Tartars  northward  was  marked 
by  fire  and  sword  ;  but,  having  reached  Novgorod- Sevcrski,  they  faced 
about  and  retreated  to  the  camp  of  Zinghis  Khan,  who  was  at  this  time 
in  Bokhara. 

Thirteen  years  after,  Batow  Khan,  grandson  of  Zinghis,  desolated 
Russia  afresh,  committing  every  species  of  cruelty,  and  aggravated 
breaches  of  faith  with  the  towns  who  submitted  to  his  arms.  In  this 
manner,  the  old  provinces  of  Riazan,  Pcrii'slavl,  Rostov,  and  several 
others,  fell  into  his  hands ;  for,  with  incredible  apathy,  and  contrary  to 
their  usual  warlike  inclinations,  the  Russian  princes  neglected  to  raise 
any  troops  to  dispute  their  progress;  and  Yury  II.,  Prince  of  Vladimir, 
who  was  at  this  critical  juncture  occupied  in  celebrating  the  mnrriage 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


31 


The  Russian  Songstress,  Mademoiselle  Belocca. 


32  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

of  one  of  his  boyars.  At  length,  suddenly  rousing  to  a  sense  of  his 
desperate  position,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  some  troops  hastily 
called  together,  and  left  his  family  under  the  protection  of  one  of  his 
nobles,  trusting  that  his  capital  would  be  able  to  sustain  a  long  siege. 
He  was  mistaken ;  the  Tartars  soon  made  themselves  masters  of  Vladi- 
mir, and  the  grand  princesses,  as  well  as  other  persons  of  distinction, 
were  burnt  alive  in  the  church  in  which  they  had  taken  shelter.  On 
hearing  of  this  tragical  event,  Yury  marched  with  his  adherents  to 
to  meet  the  foe.  The  contest  was  sanguinary  and  short ;  but,  after  per- 
forming prodigies  of  valor,  the  Russians  were  borne  down  by  over- 
powering numbers,  and  their  prince  was  left  among  the  slain.  There 
was  now  nothing  to  dispute  the  march  of  the  ruthless  Tartars,  and  they 
pushed  forward  to  within  sixty  miles  of  Novgorod,  when  they  again 
turned  round,  without  any  ostensible  motive,  and  evacuated  the  Russian 
territory. 

The  wretched  condition  into  which  the  southern  and  central  parts  of 
the  Empire  were  thrown  by  these  invasions,  afforded  a  most  advanta- 
geous opportunity  for  other  enemies  to  attack  it ;  and  accordingly,  in 
1242,  and  during  the  reign  of  Yaroslav  II.,  the  Swedes,  Danes,  and 
Livonians,  sent  a  numerous  and  well-disciplined  army  to  demand  the 
submission  of  Novgorod.  This,  Alexander,  the  son  of  the  reigning 
sovereign,  refused;  and,  leaving  his  capital,  he  advanced,  unaided  by 
any  allies,  to  meet  his  opponents,  and  fought  the  celebrated  battle  of 
the  Neva,  which  gained  him  the  surname  of  Nevski,  and  a  place  in  the 
Russian  calendar.  The  personal  courage  of  Alexander  in  this  battle 
was  of  the  highest  order,  and  mainly  contributed  to  secure  the  victory. 
His  memory  is  still  cherished  by  the  Russians,  and  the  order  instituted 
in  honor  of  him  is  much  valued. 

A  cruel  and  constantly  fluctuating  war  with  the  Tartars,  various 
incursions  by  the  Livonians,  Lithuanians,  Swedes,  and  Poles,  and  the 
most  frightful  civil  discord  among  the  several  almost  regal  provinces 
of  Russia,  consumed  fourteen  successive  reigns,  between  Yury  II.,  who 
died  in  1238,  and  Ivan  I.,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  the  principality 
of  Vladimir  in  1328.  The  aspect  of  Russia  during  this  period  was 
that  of  a  gloomy  forest  rather  than  an  empire.  Might  took  the  place 
of  right,  and  ])illage,  authorized  by  impunity,  was  exercised  alike  by 
Russians  and  Tartars.  There  was  no  safety  for  travellers  on  the  roads, 
or  for  females  in  their  houses ;  and  robbery,  like  a  contagious  malady, 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


33 


Russian  Officers  in  Consultation. 


infested  all  properties.  The  Tartars,  adding  insult  to  injury,  arrogated 
to  themselves  the  power  of  protection  of  this  or  that  interest ;  and,  in 
the  case  of  Ivan  I.,  Uzbek  Khan  secured  to  him  the  possession  of  Nov- 
gorod, as  well  as  of  Vladimir  and  Moscow.  Ivan's  father  had  greatly 
beautified  and  improved  the  latter  town;  and  Ivan  followed  his  exam- 
ple, and  made  it  his  residence.  Here  also  resided  the  Metropolitan, 
and  it  therefore  rapidly  advanced  in  importance.  Ivan's  reign  of  thir- 
teen years  was  remarkable  as  improving  and  peaceful,  and  he  exercised 
a  sound  discretion  by  building  a  wall  of  wood  around  the  city,  which 
supported  a  rampart  of  wood  and  stone.  At  the  close  of  his  life  he 
took  monastic  vows,  and  died  in  1341.  In  the  reign  of  Ivan  II.,  second 
son  of  the  previous  monarch  of  that  name,  Moscow  established  its  pre- 
eminence as  a  city,  and  became  a  capital  of  the  Empire. 
3 


34  EARL  Y  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

Ivan  II.  died  in  1358,  and  was  succeeded  by  Dmitri  III.,  who  died 
in  1363.  The  throne  was  then  occupied  by  Dmitri  IV.,  under  whom, 
towards  the  close  of  this  century,  the  Russians  raised  an  army  of  four 
hundred  thousand  men,  and  met  the  Tartars  near  the  Don,  who  were 
defeated  with  great  loss.  This  terrible  contest  lasted  three  days,  and 
was  known  in  after  ages  as  "  the  Battle  of  the  Giants."  The  victors, 
however,  suffered  greatly ;  and  when  Dmitri  reviewed  his  army  after 
the  battle,  he  found  it  reduced  to  forty  thousand  men !  This  success 
obtained  for  him  the  surname  of  Donskoi.  Subsequently,  however,  to 
this  victory,  the  Tartars  again  advanced ;  and  Dmitri,  betrayed  by  his 
allies,  the  princes  of  the  neighboring  States,  deserted  Moscow,  which 
fell  by  capitulation  into  the  hands  of  the  ruthless  invaders,  who  devas- 
tated it  with  fire  and  sword  until  it  was  utterly  destroyed,  no  building 
being  permitted  to  remain  except  those  which  happened  to  have  been 
constructed  of  stone  by  the  grand  Prince. 

The  character  of  Dmitri  IV.  is  thus  given  by  the  metropolitan 
Cyprian :  "  He  knew,"  says  that  ecclesiastic,  "  how  to  soften  the 
kingly  office  by  condescension,  he  was  impartial  in  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  delighted  to  promote  the  peace  and  happiness  of  his 
subjects ;  his  learning  was  small,  but  the  rectitude  of  his  disposition 
and  the  kindness  of  his  heart  supplied  the  defects  of  education,  and 
entitle  him  to  a  distinguished  place  among  Russian  sovereigns."  It 
was  this  prince  who  caused  the  Kremlin  to  be  erected  of  stone,  and 
closed  by  a  wall  flanged  with  towers,  which  were  defended  by  ditches 
surrounded  with  stone. 

Vassili  or  Basil  II.,  who  succeeded  his  father  Dmitri  in  1389,  was 
also  destined  to  see  his  country  invaded  by  the  Tartars  under  Tamer- 
lane ;  but  they  never  reached  the  capital,  for  he  prepared  to  give  them 
battle  near  the  river  Oka,  when  they  suddenly  turned  round  and 
retired,  as  their  countrymen  had  previously  done  on  two  other 
occasions.  The  Russians  attributed  this  to  a  miracle  performed  by  a 
picture  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  said  to  have  been  painted  by  St.  Luke. 
The  barbarian  horde,  however,  joined  by  the  Lithuanians,  afterward 
laid  siege  to  Moscow,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  inhabitants,  the  grand 
prince  having  retired  with  his  family  to  Kostroma.  Exasperated  by 
this  defeat,  the  Tartars  in  their  retreat  harassed  the  surrounding 
country,  and  slaughtered  the  defenceless  peasantry.  Money  was  first 
coined  in  Novgorod  during  this  reign,  its  place  having  hitherto  been 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


Russian  Peasant  Girls. 


36  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

supplied  with  skins  and  pieces  of  leather ;  twenty  skins  of  the  martin 
were  considered  as  equivalent  to  a  grivna,  the  value  of  which  was  a 
real  pound  of  gold  or  silver,  of  nine  and  a  quarter  ounces  in  Eaev  and 
thirteen  in  Novgorod. 

During  the  reign  of  Vassili,  Kazan  was  taken  from  the  Tartars, 
and  Eussia  was  thrice  visited  with  the  plague  and  famine,  while  the 
ancient  city  of  Novgorod  was  shaken  by  an  earthquake  after  the 
greater  part  of  its  buildings  had  been  consumed  by  fire.  Internal 
dissensions  broke  out  on  the  death  of  Vassili,  a  dispute  having  arisen 
respecting  the  succession  to  the  throne  between  the  son  of  that  monarch 
and  his  uncle  George.  This  was,  by  the  consent  of  both  parties,  left 
to  the  decision  of  the  Khan  of  Tartary,  who  determined  in  favor  of 
the  former.  Nevertheless,  a  civil  war  ensued,  and  George  was  for  a 
short  time  in  possession  of  the  throne,  when,  finding  himself  aban- 
doned by  his  party  and  his  family,  he  restored  it  to  his  nephew,  and 
returned  to  his  principality  of  Halitsch. 

Complicated  wars,  Russian  and  Tartar,  now  followed ;  the  principal 
incident  of  which  was  that  Ivan,  the  prince  of  Mojask,  in  the  interest 
of  the  traitor  -Chemiaka,  induced  Vassili  to  stop  at  the  monastery  of 
the  Troitzkol,  to  return  thanks  on  his  arrival  from  the  Tartars,  and, 
having  seized  him  there,  he  took  him  to  Moscow  and  put  out  his  eyes. 
A  few  years  after  the  prince  of  Mojask  had  committed  this  savage  act, 
Vassili  was  restored  to  the  throne,  and  died  in  1462.  The  Tartars, 
under  Makhmet,  again  possessed  themselves  of  Kazan  in  this  reigu. 

Vassili  II.  was  succeeded  by  Ivan  III.  The  first  exploit  which  the 
new  monarch  attempted  was  the  reduction  of  the  province  of  Kazan, 
in  which  he  succeeded  after  two  severe  campaigns.  The  next  was  the 
subjection  of  Novgorod,  in  which  he  also  succeeded,  incorporating 
that  city  and  province  with  his  own  dominions,  and,  having  received 
the  oaths  of  allegiance  of  the  inhabitants,  he  carried  oflf  with  him 
to  Moscow  their  celebrated  town-clock,  which  he  suspended  in  a 
tower  before  the  Kremlin,  to  be  used  only  to  call  the  people  to  their 
devotions. 

The  next  and  most  arduous  undertaking  was  the  destruction  of  the 
"Golden  Horde,"  under  Achmet,  which  he  effected  in  reveuge  for  the 
insult  offered  by  that  Khan  in  demanding  the  homage  which  he  had 
received  from  his  predecessors.  Ivan  spat  on  the  Edict  and  Achmet's 
seal,  and  put  hia  embassadors  to  death,  sparing  one  only  to  convey  the 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


37 


intelligence  to  his  master, 
who  prepared  in  the  follow- 
ing year  to  take  his  revenge ; 
but,  awed  by  the  prepara- 
tions made  to  receive  him 
on  the  banks  of  the  Oka, 
he  retired  for  a  time,  and 
subsequently  took  the  more 
circuitous  route  through 
Lithuania,  from  which  coun- 
try he  expected  support.  The 
Russians,  however,  met  and 
defeated  a  part  of  this  horde, 
and  were  returning  home, 
when  the  Khan  was  met  on 
a  different  route  by  the 
Nogai  Tartars,  who  routed 
his  army  and  slew  him  in 
the  battle.  His  ally,  Casimir 
IV.,  also  brought  himseL 
under  Ivan's  indignation,  not  only  for  this  war,  but  because  he 
attempted  to  poison  him,  and  an  incursion  that  he  made  into  the 
territories  of  the  Polish  king  was  eminently  successful. 

This  powerful  and  ambitious  prince  also  made  treaties  with  and 
received  embassadors  from  the  Pope,  the  Sultan,  the  kings  of  Denmark 
and  Poland,  and  the  republic  of  Venice.  He  assumed  the  title  of 
"  Grand  Prince  of  Novgorod,  Vladimir,  Moscow,  and  all  Russia,"  and 
changed  the  arms  of  St.  George  on  horseback  for  the  black  eagle  with 
two  heads,  after  his  marriage  with  Sophia,  a  princess  of  the  imperial 
blood  of  Constantinople.  In  fact,  Ivan  III.  may  be  called  the  true 
founder  of  the  modern  Russian  Empire.  Karamsin,  the  historian, 
thus  describes  him :  "  Without  being  a  tyrant  like  his  grandson,  he 
had  received  from  nature  a  certain  harshness  of  character,  which  he 
knew  how  to  moderate  by  the  strength  of  his  reason.  It  is  said,  how- 
ever, that  a  single  glance  of  Ivan,  when  he  was  excited  with  anger, 
would  make  a  timid  woman  swoon ;  that  petitioners  dreaded  to  approach 
his  throne;  and  that,  even  at  his  table,  the  hoxjars,  his  grandees,  trembled 
before  him" — which  portrait  does  not  belie  his  own  declaration,  when 


The  Russian  Grand  Duke  Nicholas. 


38  EARL  Y  HIS  TOR  Y  OF  R  USSIA. 

the  same  boyars  demanded  that  he  should  give  the  crown  to  his 
grandson,  Ivan,  whom  he  had  dispossessed  in  favor  of  a  son  by  his 
second  wife — "  I  will  give  to  Russia  whomsoever  I  please !"  He  died, 
very  infirm,  in  1505,  having  reigned  forty-three  years. 

Wars  between  the  Russians,  the  Poles,  the  Tartars,  and  the  Nov- 
gorodians,  again  arose  on  the  death  of  Ivan,  and  it  was  not  till  the 
death  of  Vassili  IV.,  his  successor,  and  a  minority  of  twelve  years  had 
elapsed  in  the  reign  of  Ivan  IV.,  that  internal  cabals  and  intrigues 
were  for  a  time  suppressed.  This  monarch,  the  first  to  take  the  title 
of  "  Czar,"  married  Anastasia,  the  daughter  of  Roman  Yuryvich,  who 
in  the  early  part  of  his  reign  had  the  happiest  ascendency  over  a 
character  naturally  violent  and  cruel.  Ivan  was  at  this  period  afiable 
and  condescending,  accessible  to  both  rich  and  poor,  and  his  mental 
powers  under  her  guidance  were  employed  in  advancing  the  interests 
and  happiness  of  his  subjects.  Ivan  soon  perceived  that,  to  preserve 
his  power,  he  must  annihilate  the  Tartar  dominion.  To  this  he  felt 
that  his  uninstructed  army  was  unequal ;  he  therefore  established,  in 
1545,  the  militia  of  the  Strelitzes,  and  armed  them  with  muskets 
instead  of  bows,  hitherto  their  arms,  as  their  name  imports,  from  Sirelai, 
"  an  arrow."  He  then  laid  siege  to  and  captured  Kazan,  taking  the 
Khan  prisoner.  He  likewise  defeated  Gustavus  Vasa,  King  of  Sweden, 
in  a  pitched  battle  near  Viborg;  ravaged  Livonia,  taking  Dorpat, 
Narva  and  thirty  fortified  towns ;  and  made  war  on  the  King  of 
Poland  because  he  had  refused  him  his  daughter  in  marriage.  An 
unsuccessful  campaign  against  this  potentate,  attributed  by  the  boyars 
to  the  unskilful  arrangements  of  the  foreign  generals,  as  well  as  the 
death  of  his  wife  Anastasia,  whose  controlling  influence  was  no  longer 
felt,  led  to  the  unlimited  indulgence  of  his  naturally  ferocious  disposi- 
tion ;  and  the  remaining  acts  of  his  life  gained  for  him,  in  the  history 
of  his  country,  the  surname  of  "The  Terrible."  Independently  of  the 
many  and  dreadful  acts  of  barbarity  of  Avhich  he  was  guilty,  he  killed 
his  own  son  in  a  paroxysm  of  rage,  but  died  a  prey  to  the  grief  and 
remorse  which  this  fearful  crime  occasioned  him,  after  having  endeav- 
ored to  atone  for  it  by  giving  large  sums  of  money  to  different  monas- 
teries.    He  received  the  tonsure  in  his  last  moments. 

As  a  legislator,  Ivan  IV.  was  superior  to  his  predecessors,  having, 
with  the  assistance  of  his  nobles,  compiled  a  code  of  laws  called  "Soude- 
brik."     In  his  reign  an  English  ship,  commanded  by  Richard  Chan- 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


39 


A  Pi-\sANT  Couple  on  the  March. 


40  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

cellor,  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  in  the  Arctic  Sea,  anchored  in  the 
mouth  of  the  Dwina ;  and  when  the  information  of  this  circumstance 
was  forwarded  to  Ivan,  he  invited  Chancellor  to  Moscow,  where,  on  his 
arrival,  he  was  received  with  marked  attention,  and  presented  with  a 
letter  to  carry  back  to  his  sovereign.  Queen  Elizabeth,  expressing  a 
desire  to  enter  into  commercial  relations  with  England,  and  to  have 
English  artificers  and  workmen  sent  to  him.  It  is  curious  that  even 
at  this  early  period  the  fair  which  he  established  at  Narva  was  so 
glutted  with  English,  Dutch,  and  French  goods,  that  some  of  them 
were  sold  for  less  than  the  prime  cost  in  their  respective  countries. 
Ivan  controlled  his  religious  prejudices,  and  tolerated  the  Lutheran 
churches  of  the  German  merchants  at  Moscow ;  but  he  never  shook 
hands  with  a  foreign  ambassador  without  washing  his  own  immediately 
after  his  visitor  had  taken  his  leave.  With  a  character  so  strongly 
marked  by  cruelty,  superstition  and  caprice,  it  is  remarkable  to  find 
not  only  that  he  was  enterprising  and  intelligent,  but  that  he  should 
ever  have  entertained  the  idea  of  placing  the  Scriptures  in  the  hands 
of  his  subjects  in  the  mother  tongue;  he  did,  however,  order  a  transla- 
tion to  be  made  of  the  Acts  and  Epistles,  and  had  it  disseminated  over 
his  dominions. 

"  In  the  memory  of  the  people,"  observes  Karamsin,  "  the  brilliant 
renown  of  Ivan  survived  the  recollection  of  his  bad  qualities.  The 
groans  had  ceased,  the  victims  were  reduced  to  dust;  new  events  caused 
ancient  traditions  to  be  forgotten;  and  the  memory  of  this  prince 
reminded  people  only  of  the  conquest  of  three  Mongol  kingdoms.  The 
proofs  of  his  atrocious  actions  were  buried  in  the  public  archives ;  while 
Kazan,  Astrakhan,  and  Siberia  remained  in  the  eyes  of  the  nation  as 
imperishable  monuments  of  his  glory.  The  Russians,  who  saw  in  him 
the  illustrious  author  of  their  power  and  civilization,  rejected  or  forgot 
the  surname  of  tyrant  given  him  by  his  contemporaries.  Under  the 
influence  of  some  confused  recollections  of  his  cruelty,  they  still  call 
him  Ivan  *  The  Terrible,'  without  distinguishing  him  from  his  grand- 
father, Ivan  III.,  to  whom  Russia  had  given  the  same  epithet  rather  in 
praise  than  in  reproach.  History  does  not  pardon  wicked  princes  so 
easily  as  do  people." 

Ivan  IV.  died  in  1584,  having  governed  the  Russian  nation  for  a 
longer  period  than  any  other  sovereign,  namely,  fifty-one  years. 

Feodor  I.,  who  ascended  the  throne  after  the  death  of  Ivan  IV.,  and 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 


41 


was  a  feeble  and  vacillating 
prince,  died  in  1598.  His  suc- 
cessor was  Boris  Godunotf,  the 
brother  of  Anastasia,  the  Czar 
Ivan's  first  wife,  who,  like  the 
English  Richard,  compassed 
the  death  of  his  nephew  Dmitri, 
Feodor's  younger  brother,  dur- 
ing that  Czar's  lifetime;  and 
therefore  in  Feodor  ended  the 
dynasty  of  Rurik,  which  during 
eight  centuries  had  wielded  the 
Russian  sceptre.  Consequent 
upon  this  deed  came  all  kinds 
of  civil  calamities,  and  in  1604 
there  arose  a  pretender  to  the 
throne  in  the  person  of  a  Rus- 
sian monk.  This  man  assumed 
the  character  of  the  murdered 
Dmitri,  and  having  drawn  to 
his  standard  the  Poles  and  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don,  met  Boris  in 
the  field,  remained  master  of  it,  and  in  the  space  of  one  year  seated 
himself  on  the  throne. 

Nor  was  this  civil  war  the  only  calamity  which  befell  the  Russians 
during  the  reign  of  Boris.  Moscow  was,  in  1600,  decimated  by  the 
most  appalling  famine  that  ever  devastated  the  capital  of  a  country. 
It  is  related  that,  driven  by  the  pangs  of  hunger,  instances  oc- 
curred of  mothers  having  fii-st  slain  and  then  eaten  their  own 
children;  and  it  is  recorded  that  a  woman,  in  her  extremity,  seized 
with  her  teeth  the  flesh  of  her  son  whom  she  carried  in  her  arms. 
Others  confessed  that  they  had  entrapped  into  their  dwellings,  and 
subsequently  killed  and  eaten  three  men  successively.  One  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  thousand  corpses  remained  for  some  days  in  the 
streets  unburied,  and  wore  afterwards  interred  in  the  fields,  exclusive 
of  those  which  had  been  previously  buried  in  the  four  hundred  churches 
of  the  city  !  An  eye-witness  states  that  this  awful  visitation  carried  ofi" 
five  hundred  thousand  persons  from  this  densely-peopled  capital,  the 
population  of  which  was,  at  the  time,  augmented  by  the  influx  of  stran- 


Cynrovitch — The  Future  Emperor  of 
Russia. 


42  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

gers.  During  this  dreadful  calamity,  Boris,  with  justifiable  violence, 
broke  open  the  granaries  which  avarice  had  closed,  and  had  the  grain 
sold  at  half  its  value. 

Interminable  and  inexplicable  troubles,  a  second  false  Dmitri,  and 
other  impostors,  led  to  the  occupation  of  Moscow  by  the  Poles  in  1610, 
who  entered  the  city  with  Vladislaus,  son  of  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland, 
elected  to  the  throne  by  the  boyars,  on  condition  that  he  should  embrace 
the  Greek  religion.  This  gave  great  offence  to  the  national  feeling, 
and  Minim,  a  citizen  of  Nijnei-Novgorod,  called  his  countrymen  to 
arms,  and  entreated  the  general  Pojarski  to  take  the  command.  This 
he  did  without  reluctance,  and  his  army  was  quickly  increased  by 
the  arrival  of  troops  and  money  from  various  towns,  and  by  the  Cos- 
sacks and  Strelitzes  who  flocked  to  his  banner.  Thus  reinforced,  they 
marched  to  Yaroslav,  and  afterwards  to  Moscow,  to  which  they  laid 
siege,  carried  the  Kitai  Gorod  by  assault,  and  made  a  fearful  slaughter 
of  the  Poles ;  when  the  inhabitants,  driven  to  the  last  extremity  by 
famine,  surrendered,  and  Vladislaus  abandoned  the  country.  A  fine 
monument  was  erected  in  tlie  open  space,  under  the  Kremlin  walls,  in 
1818,  to  the  memory  of  Minim  and  Pojarski,  It  represents  the  high- 
spirited  citizen  of  Nijnei  calling  on  his  countrymen  to  rid  Russia  of  the 
foreign  enemy,  while  Pojarski  listens  attentively  to  the  stirring  exhorta- 
tion. 

With  a  vacant  throne,  and  unembarrassed  by  republican  feelings, 
the  boyars,  after  the  flight  of  Vladislaus,  proceeded  to  elect  as  their 
czar  Michael  Romanofi',  the  son  of  the  metropolitan  of  Rostof,  who 
was  at  the  time  only  sixteen  years  of  age ;  and  from  him  is  descended 
the  present  imperial  family.  The  usual  routine  of  civil  strife  and 
foreign  wars  continued  after  the  accession  of  Romanoff";  and  that  in 
which  the  Czar  was  involved  with  Gustavus  Adolphus,  King  of  Sweden, 
was  terminated,  not  much  to  the  advantage  of  Russia,  through  the 
mediation  of  England,  France,  and  Holland.  A  treaty  was  signed  by 
the  belligerent  parties  on  the  26th  of  January,  1616,  which  gave  to 
Sweden  Ingria,  Carelia,  Livonia,  and  Esthonia,  the  Russians  retaining 
Novgorod ;  and  these  terms  seem  to  have  been  dictated  by  the  Czar's 
love  of  peace.  The  Poles  were  at  this  time  masters  of  Smolensk,  and 
ravaged  the  country  up  to  the  walls  of  IMoscow,  against  which  they 
made  a  night  attack,  but  were  repulsed;  they  remained,  however,  in 
possession  of  Smolensk,  after  sustaining  a  siege  of  two  years.     Dra- 


EARL  Y  HISTOR  V  OF  RUSSIA. 


43 


i^^ffp-| 


goons  are  mentioned,  for  the  first  time  in  this  reign,  as  forming  part 
of  a  Russian  army,  and  the  Czar  was  assisted  in  his  wars  by  both  Ger- 
man and  French  troops ;  these  regiments  served  him  as  models  for  the 
organization  of  the  Russian  army,  which  was  further  improved  by  the 
discipline  introduced  by  the  foreign  officers  in  Romanofi"s  pay. 


44  EARLY  HISTORY  OF  RUSSIA. 

The  Czar  died  in  July,  1645,  and  was  succeeded  by  Lis  son  Alexis. 
The  chief  events  of  his  reign  were,  the  marauding  expeditions  of  the 
Cossacks  of  the  Don ;  a  rebellion  in  the  city  of  Astrakhan ;  and  the 
appearance  of  another  false  Dmitri.  In  this  reign  shipwrights  came 
over  from  Holland  and  England,  and  a  Dutchman  named  Butler 
built  a  vessel  called  the  Eagle,  at  Didiloff,  the  first  ship  that  the 
Russians  had  seen  built  on  scientific  principles. 

Alexis  died  in  1676,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Feodor  III.,  who 
died  young,  in  1682.  During  the  exercise  of  his  power,  he  evinced 
every  disposition  to  carry  out  his  father's  plans.  He  directed  his 
attention  to  the  improvement  of  the  laws,  and  rendered  justice  acces- 
sible to  all,  and  in  the  words  of  a  Eussian  historian,  "  lived  the  joy 
and  delight  of  his  people,  and  died  amid  their  sighs  and  tears.  On 
the  day  of  his  death,  Moscow  was  in  the  same  distress  that  Rome  was 
on  the  death  of  Titus."  The  sovereignty  of  the  Cossacks  was  secured 
to  Russia  in  this  reign.  Feodor  was  succeeded  by  his  half-brother 
Peter,  who,  some  accounts  say,  was  named  by  him  as  his  successor. 


Cossacks  on  the  March. 


PETER    THE    GREAT   TO  NICHOLAS.  45 


CHAPTER  II. 

PETER  THE  GREAT  TO  OTCHOLAS. 

The  succession  of  Peter  to  tlie  throne  of  the  Empire  was  by  no  means 
pleasing  to  the  majority  of  the  Russian  nobles,  and  it  was  particularly 
opposed  by  Prince  Galitzin,  the  prime  minister  of  the  late  Czar.  This 
able  man  had  espoused  the  interests  of  Sophia  (the  sister  of  Feodor  III. 
and  Ivan,  and  half-sister  of  Peter),  a  young  woman  of  eminent  abilities 
and  insinuating  address.  Sophia,  upon  the  pretence  of  asserting  the 
claims  of  her  brother  Ivan,  who,  though  of  a  feeble  constitution  and 
weak  intellect,  was  considered  as  the  lawful  heir  to  the  crown,  had 
really  formed  a  design  of  securing  the  succession  to  herself;  and  with 
that  view,  had  not  only  insinuated  herself  into  the  confidence  and  good 
graces  of  Galitzin,  but  had  brought  over  to  her  interests  the  Strelitzes. 
These  turbulent  and  licentious  soldiers  assembled  ostensibly  for  the 
purpose  of  placing  on  the  throne  Prince  Ivan,  whom  they  proclaimed 
Czar  by  acclamation.  During  three  days  these  Russian  Janizaries 
roved  about  the  city  of  Moscow,  committing  the  greatest  excesses,  and 
putting  to  death  several  of  the  chief  officers  of  State  who  were  sus- 
pected of  being  hostile  to  the  designs  of  Sophia.  The  princess  did  not, 
however,  entirely  gain  her  point,  for,  as  the  new  Czar  entertained  a 
sincere  affection  for  Peter  (who,  as  already  seen,  was  only  his  half- 
brother),  he  insisted  that  this  prince  should  share  with  him  the  impe- 
rial dignity.  This  was  at  length  agreed  to ;  and  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1682,  Ivan  and  Peter  were  solemnly  crowned  Joint  Emperors  of  all 
the  Russias,  while  the  Princess  Sophia  was  nominated  their  copartner 
in  the  government. 

From  the  imbecility  of  Ivan  and  the  youth  of  Peter  (now  only  ten 
years  of  age)  the  whole  povv-er  of  the  government  in  fact  rested  on 
Sophia  and  her  minister  Galitzin,  though  until  the  year  1687  the 
names  of  Ivan  and  Peter  only  were  annexed  to  the  imperial  decrees. 
Sophia  had  scarcely  established  her  authority,  when  she  was  threatened 
with  deposition,  from  an  alarming  insurrection  of  the  Strelitzes.  This 
was  excited  by  their  commander,  Prince  Kovanskoi,  who,  demanding 
of  Sophia  that  she  would  marry  one  of  her  sisters  to  his  son.  met  with 


46  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

a  refusal.  In  consequence  of  this  insurrection,  which  threw  the  whole 
city  of  Moscow  into  terror  and  consternation,  Sophia  and  the  two 
young  Czars  took  refuge  in  a  monastery,  about  twelve  leagues  from 
the  capital ;  and,  before  the  Strelitzes  could  follow  them  thither,  a 
considerable  body  of  soldiers,  principally  foreigners,  was  assembled  in 
their  defence.  Kovanskoi  was  taken  prisoner,  and  instantly  beheaded ; 
and,  though  his  followers  at  first  threatened  dreadful  vengeance  on  his 
executioners,  they  soon  found  themselves  obliged  to  submit,  when  the 
most  guilty  among  the  ringleaders  suffered  ceath. 

The  quelling  of  these  disturbances  gave  opportunity  to  the  friends 
of  Peter  to  pursue  the  plans  which  they  had  formed  for  subverting  the 
authority  of  Sophia ;  and  their  designs  were  favored  by  a  rupture  with 
Turkey.  The  Ottoman  Porte  was  now  engaged  with  Poland  and  the 
German  Empire,  and  both  the  latter  powers  had  solicited  the  assist- 
ance of  Russia  against  the  common  enemy.  Sophia  and  her  party  were 
averse  to  the  alliance ;  but  as  the  secret  friends  of  Peter  had  sufficient 
influence  to  persuade  the  majority  that  a  Turkish  war  would  be  of 
advantage  to  the  State,  they  even  prevailed  on  Galitzin  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  army,  and  thus  removed  their  principal  opponent. 
Assembling  an  army  of  nearly  three  hundred  thousand  men,  he  ad- 
vanced to  the  confines  of  Turkey,  and  here  consumed  two  campaigns 
in  marches  and  countermarches,  and  lost  nearly  forty  thousand  men, 
partly  in  unsuccessful  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  but  chiefly  from 
disease. 

While  Galitzin  was  thus  trifling  away  his  time  in  the  South,  Peter, 
who  already  began  to  give  proofs  of  those  great  talents  Avhich  after- 
ward enabled  him  to  act  so  conspicuous  a  part  in  the  theatre  of  the 
North,  was  strengthening  his  jiarty  among  the  Russian  nobles.  His 
ordinary  residence  was  at  a  village  not  far  from  Moscow,  and  here  he 
had  assembled  round  him  a  considerable  number  of  young  men  of  rank 
and  influence,  whom  he  called  his  playmates.  Under  the  appearance 
of  a  military  game,  Peter  was  secretly  establishing  himself  in  the  affec- 
tions of  his  young  companions ;  and  he  contrived  effectually  to  lull  the 
suspicions  of  Sophia,  till  it  was  too  late  for  her  to  oppose  his  machina- 
tions. 

In  the  year  1G89,  Peter,  who  had  now  attained  his  seventeenth  year, 
determined  to  make  an  efibrt  to  deprive  Sophia  of  all  share  in  the 
government,  and  thus  secure  to  himself  the  undivided  sovereignty. 


FETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


47 


—  -.jji^ijl 


ll 


The  Representatives  of  the  Russian  Government  at  Constantinople. 


An  open  rupture  soon  took  place,  and  Sophia,  finding  that  she  could 
not  openly  oppose  the  party  of  the  Czar,  attempted  to  procure  his 
assassination ;  but  her  design  was  discovered,  and  an  accommodation 
was  agreed  to,  on  condition  that  she  would  give  up  all  claim  to  the 
regency  and  retire  to  a  nunnery.  She  was  consequently  incarcerated 
in  a  monastery  for  the  rest  of  her  life.  The  princess  was,  considering 
the  times  in  which  she  lived,  a  woman  of  extraordinary  taste  and 
literary  attainments.  A  tragedy,  written  by  her  when  she  was  in- 
volved in  State  intrigues,  and  apparently  absorbed  in  political  turmoil, 
is  still  preserved.  The  commander  of  the  Strelitzes,  who  was  to  have 
been  her  agent  in  the  assassination  of  Peter,  was  beheaded,  and  minis- 
ter Galitzin  sent  into  banishment  to  Archangel.  Peter  had  now 
obtained  the  wished-for  possession  of  the  imperial  throne ;  for  though 
Ivan  was  still  nominally  Czar,  he  had  voluntarily  resigned  all  partici- 


48  PETER    THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

pation  in  the  administration  of  affairs,  and  retired  to  a  life  of  obscurity. 
He  survived  until  1696. 

The  ruling  passion  of  Peter  the  Great  was  a  desire  to  extend  his 
empire  and  consolidate  his  power ;  and  accordingly  his  first  act  was  to 
make  war  on  the  Turks,  an  undertaking  which  was  at  the  outset  im- 
prudently conducted,  and  consequently  unsuccessful.  He  lost  thirty 
thousand  men  before  Azov,  and  did  not  obtain  permanent  possession 
of  the  town  until  the  year  1699,  and  then  by  an  armistice.  In  the 
following  year  he  was  defeated  in  his  intrenched  camp  at  Narva,  con- 
taining eighty  thousand  men,  by  eight  thousand  Swedes  under  Charles 
XII.,  then  only  a  boy  of  seventeen ;  and  on  many  other  occasions  the 
Kussians  suffered  severe  checks  and  reverses.  But  at  length  the  in- 
domitable perseverance  of  Peter  prevailed.  In  1705  he  carried  Narva, 
the  scene  of  his  former  defeat,  by  assault ;  and  two  years  after,  by  the 
crowning  victory  of  Poltava,  where  he  showed  the  qualities  of  an  able 
general,  he  sealed  the  fate  of  his  gallant  and  ecccutx'ic  adversary  and 
the  nation  over  which  he  ruled. 

In  1711  Peter  once  more  took  the  field  against  the  Turks;  but  his 
troops  were  badly  provisioned,  and  having  led  them  into  a  very 
disadvantageous  position,  where  they  were  surrounded  by  the  Grand 
Vizier's  army,  he  was  only  enabled,  by  a  present  of  his  consort's 
jewels  to  the  Turkish  commander,  to  negotiate  a  humiliating  peace, 
one  of  the  conditions  of  which  was  that  the  King  of  Sweden,  then 
a  fugitive  in  Turkey,  should  be  permitted  to  return  to  his  own 
country. 

From  this  period  to  1718  Peter  was  constantly  occupied  in  pursuing 
with  vigor  the  plans  which  he  had  originated  for  extending  the  fron- 
tiers of  his  kingdom  toward  the  west.  In  the  latter  year  he  drove  the 
Swedes  out  of  Finland,  made  several  descents  upon  the  coast  near 
Stockholm,  destroyed  whole  towns,  obliged  her  navy  to  fly,  and  finally, 
in  1721,  by  the  peace  of  Nystadt,  retained  Esthonia,  Livonia,  Ingria, 
a  part  of  Carelia  and  Finland,  as  well  as  the  islands  of  Dago,  Moen, 
CEscl,  etc. 

Having  now  no  enemy  on  the  side  of  the  Baltic,  Peter  turned  his 
arms  eastward,  and  took  Derbend,  on  the  Caspian,  from  the  Shah  of 
Persia,  in  1724 — an  inglorious  conquest,  for  only  six  thousand  Persians 
were  opposed  to  his  veteran  army  of  eleven  thousand,  besides  Kalmucks 
and  Cossacks.     This  was  his  last  miliary  achievement,  for  he  died  in 


PETER    THE    GREAT   TO  NICHOLAS. 


49 


The  Emperor  of  Russia  Driving  on  the  Nevski  Prospect, 
St.  Petersburg. 

1725  (of  a  cold  contracted  in  attempting  to  rescue  some  shipwrecked 
sailors  near  Kronstadt),  in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age.  His  latter 
years  were  clouded  by  domestic  infelicity  ;  his  second  wife,  Catherine, 
was  more  than  suspected  of  being  unfaithful  to  him ;  and  his  son  Alexis 
was  disobedient.  The  former  he  spared ;  the  latter  he  brought  to  trial, 
and  is  believed  to  have  put  to  death  in  prison — some  accounts  affirm, 
with  his  own  hand. 

We  have  said  that  the  Czar's  ruling  passion  was  to  extend  his  Empire 

and  consolidate  his  power ;  but  he  likewise  possessed  in  an  eminent 

degree  the  national  characteristics — a  persevering  mind  and  a  resolute 

will,  which  bid  defiance  to  all  difficulties.    By  the  assistance  of  his 

4 


50  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

foreign  officers,  lie  succeeded  in  forming  and  bringing  into  a  high  state 
of  discipline  a  large  army ;  he  found  Russia  without  a  fishing-smack, 
and  bequeathed  to  her  a  navy  to  which  that  of  Sweden,  long  established 
and  highly  efficient,  lowered  her  flag ;  he  built  St.  Petersburg,  which 
may  be  said  to  float  upon  the  waters  of  the  Neva ;  he  caused  canals 
and  other  public  works  of  utility  to  be  constructed  in  various  parts  of 
his  empire ;  endowed  colleges  and  universities,  and  established  com- 
mercial relations  with  China  and  almost  every  other  nation  on  the 
globe.  The  Czar  likewise  possessed  the  capability  of  enduring  priva- 
tion and  bodily  fatigue  to  an  almost  incredible  extent,  and  seemed  to  act 
upon  the  idea  that,  by  his  own  personal  exertions  and  the  versatility 
of  his  genius,  he  could  accomplish  for  Russia  that  which  it  had  taken 
centuries  to  effect  in  other  countries,  and  fancied  that  he  could  infuse 
into  her  citizens  an  immediate  appreciation  of  the  mechanical  and 
polite  arts,  as  well  as  a  taste  for  those  things  which  are  seen  only  in  an 
advanced  stage  of  civilization.  Peter  devoted  his  whole  attention  and 
energies  to  this  theory ;  and  though  he  could  not  compass  impossibili- 
ties, he  was  enabled,  by  the  uncontrolled  exercise  of  the  imperial  will 
and  inexhaustible  resources,  to  effect  a  most  extraordinary  and  rapid 
change  in  the  political  and  physical  condition  of  his  country. 

His  manual  dexterity  and  mechanical  knowledge  was  great.  Against 
the  expressed  wish  of  his  hoyars  and  the  clergy,  who  thought  it  an 
irreligious  act,  he  left  Russia  to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  arts 
and  inventions  of  other  European  nations,  and  worked  with  an  adze  in 
the  principal  dockyards  of  Holland  ;  he  not  only  built,  but  sailed  his 
own  boat,  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  St.  Petersburg,  as  are  specimens 
of  his  engraving,  turning,  and  carpenters'  work.  He  rose  at  four 
o'clock  in  summer ;  at  six  he  was  either  in  the  Senate  or  the  Admiralty ; 
and  his  subjects  must  have  believed  that  he  had  the  gift  of  ubiquity,  so 
many  and  so  various  were  his  occupations.  He  had  also  the  virtue  of 
economy,  a  quality  rarely  seen  in  a  sovereign.  He  even  found  time  to 
dabble  in  literature,  and  translated  several  works  into  Russian ;  among 
these  were  the  "  Architecture"  of  Le  Clerc,  and  the  "  Art  of  Construct- 
ing Dams  and  Mills,"  by  Sturm.  These  manuscripts  are  still  pre- 
served. 

During  the  Czar's  visit  to  London,  he  was  much  gazed  at  by  the 
populace,  and  on  one  occasion  was  upset  by  a  porter  who  pushed  against 
him  with  his  load ;  when  Lord  Carmarthen,  fearing  there  would  ,be  a 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


51 


Ceremonies  of  Blessing  the  Neva,  at  St.  Petersburg. 


pugilistic  encounter,  turned  angrily  to  the  man  and  said,  "  Don't  you 
know  that  this  is  the  Czar  ?"  "  Czar !"  replied  the  sturdy  porter,  with 
his  tongue  in  his  cheek,  "  we  are  all  Czars  here  !"  Sauntering  one  day 
into  "Westminster  Hall  with  the  same  nobleman,  when  it  was,  as  usual, 
alive  with  wigs  and  gowns,  Peter  asked  who  these  people  might  be ; 
and  when  informed  that  they  were  lawyers,  nothing  could  exceed  his 
astonishment.  "Lawyers!"  he  said;  "why  I  have  but  two  in  all  my 
dominions,  and  I  believe  I  shall  hang  one  of  them  the  moment  I  get 
home !" 

The  vices  of  Peter  were  such  as  might  have  been  expected  in  a  man 
of  his  violent  temperament,  despotic  in  a  barbarous  country,  and  who 
in  early  life  had  been  surrounded  by  flatterers  and  dissolute  associates. 
But  it  would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  work  to  enter  into  a 
discussion  of  this  nature.  The  Russians  date  their  civilization  from 
his  reign ;  but  a  slight  glance  at  the  history  of  some  of  the  early  Czars 
will  show  that,  in  many  of  the  points  on  which  the  greatness  of  his 
reputation  rests,  he  was  anticipated  by  his  predecessors.     Dark  and 


52  PETER    THE  GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

savage  as  the  early  history  of  the  country  is,  an  attempt  at  public 
education  had  been  made,  religious  toleration  and  an  anxiety  to  pro- 
mote commerce  existed,  and  the  institution  of  a  code  of  laws  had 
already  occupied  their  attention.  The  untimely  death  of  some  of 
these  princes  deprived  Russia  of  monarchs  far  more  benevolent  than 
Peter — men  of  finer  and  more  generous  minds,  and  though  not  so  am- 
bitious, quite  as  anxious  for  her  welfare.  Under  their  sway  no  such 
rush  at  improvements  would  have  been  made ;  no  such  influx  of  for- 
eigners would  have  taken  place ;  but,  if  not  so  rapidly,  at  least  as 
surely  these  sovereigns  would  have  effected  quite  as  much  real  good. 
Peter  left  no  code  of  laws  established  on  the  broad  principles  of  justice; 
he  travelled  in  England  and  Holland,  but  thought  only  of  their  navies, 
and  wholly  overlooked  the  great  principles  of  their  governments,  by 
which  he  might  have  ameliorated  the  condition  of  his  own.  Trial  by 
jury  never  appears  to  have  atti-acted  his  attention.  The  Czar,  it  is 
true,  reigned  over  a  nation  of  serfs — so  did  Alfred  the  Great  of  Eng- 
land, and  in  the  ninth  instead  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Peter  was  succeeded  by  his  consort  Catherine,  in  whose  favor  he 
had,  some  years  before  his  death,  altered  the  order  of  succession.  She 
was  the  illegitimate  daughter  of  a  Livonian  peasant.  After  some 
years  spent  in  the  service  of  a  clergyman,  she  married  a  Swedish 
dragoon,  who  shortly  afterward  went  on  an  expedition  and  never 
returned.  She  then  resided,  it  is  doubtful  whether  as  servant  or 
paramour,  with  the  Russian  General  Bauer,  when  Prince  Menchikoff 
became  enamored  of  her  charms,  and  made  her  his  mistress.  Peter 
the  Great  now  distinguished  her  by  his  notice,  and  she  became  at  first 
his  mistress  and  afterward  his  Empress. 

Catharine  I.  conducted  herself  with  great  gentleness  and  prudence 
in  the  administration  of  the  government.  She  reduced  the  annual 
capitation  tax ;  recalled  the  greater  part  of  those  whom  Peter  had 
exiled  to  Siberia ;  caused  every  gallows  to  be  taken  down,  and  all 
instruments  of  torture  destroyed ;  paid  the  troops  their  arrears,  and 
restored  to  the  Cossacks  their  privileges  and  immunities,  of  which 
they  had  been  deprived  during  the  late  reign.  She  concluded  a 
treaty  of  alliance  with  the  German  Emperor,  by  which  it  was 
stipulated  that,  in  case  of  attack  from  an  enemy,  either  party  should 
assist  the  other  with  a  force  of  thirty  thousand  men,  and  should 
each  guarantee  the  possessions  of  the  other.     In  her  brief  reign  the 


PETER    THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


53 


The  Great  Bell  at  Moscow,  or  the  Tsar  Kolvkol. 


boundaries  of  the  Empire  were  extended  in  the  Trans-Caucasus. 
Catherine  also  founded  the  Academy  of  Sciences.  Her  indulgence  in 
the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  produced  a  disease  of  Avhich  she  died 
on  the  17th  of  May,  1727,  at  the  age  of  forty-one,  having  reigned 
only  about  two  years. 

Catherine  settled  the  crown  on  Peter,  the  son  of  Alexis,  and 
grandson  of  Peter  the  Great  by  his  first  wife,  Eudoxia,  and  who 
succeeded  by  the  title  of  Peter  II.     This  Prince  was  only  twelve 


54  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO   NICHOLAS. 

years  of  age  when  he  succeeded  to  the  imperial  throne,  and  his  reign 
was  short  and  uninteresting.  He  was  influenced  chiefly  by  Prince 
Menchikoff",  whose  daughter  Catherine  had  decreed  him  to  marry. 
This  ambitious  man,  who,  from  a  very  mean  condition,  had  risen  to 
the  first  offices  of  the  state  under  Peter  the  Great,  and  had,  under 
Catherine,  conducted  the  administration  of  the  government,  was  now, 
however,  drawing  toward  the  end  of  his  career.  The  number  of  his 
enemies  had  greatly  increased,  and  their  machinations  succeeded  so 
well  that  Menchikofi'  and  his  Avhole  family  were  banished  to  Siberia. 

The  artful  counsellors  of  the  young  monarch,  instead  of  cultivating 
his  naturally  good  abilities,  encouraged  him  to  waste  his  time  and 
Qxhaust  his  strength  in  hunting  and  other  athletic  exercises ;  and  it  is 
supposed  that  the  debility  consequent  on  such  fatigue  increased  the 
danger  of  the  small-pox,  with  which  he  was  attacked  in  January, 
1730,  and  of  which  he  died,  at  the  age  of  only  fifteen  years. 

Notwithstanding  the  absolute  power  with  which  Peter  the  Great 
and  Catherine  I.  had  settled  by  will  the  succession  to  the  throne  the 
Russian  senate  and  nobility,  upon  the  death  of  Peter  II.,  ventured  to 
set  aside  the  order  of  succession  which  these  sovereigns  had  estab- 
lished. The  male  issue  of  Peter  was  extinct;  and  the  Duke  of 
Holstein  (of  Denmark),  son  of  Peter's  eldest  daughter,  was,  by  the 
destination  of  the  late  Empress,  entitled  to  the  crown ;  but  the  Rus- 
sians, for  political  reasons,  chose  Anne,  Duchess  of  Courland,  second 
daughter  of  Ivan,  Peter's  half-brother;  thus  excluding  her  eldest 
sister,  who  was  still  living,  because,  as  Duchess  of  Mecklenburg,  she 
was  allied  to  one  of  the  royal  houses  of  Germany. 

In  1735,  a  rupture  took  place  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  occa- 
sioned partly  by  the  mutual  jealousies  that  had  subsisted  between 
these  powers  ever  since  the  treaty  on  the  Pruth,  and  partly  by  the 
depredations  of  the  Tartars  of  the  Crimea,  then  under  the  dominion 
of  the  Porte.  A  Russian  army  entered  the  Crimea,  ravaged  part  of 
the  country,  and  killed  a  considerable  number  of  Tartars ;  but  having 
ventured  too  far,  without  a  sufficient  supply  of  provisions,  was  obliged 
to  retreat,  after  sustaining  a  loss  of  nearly  ten  thousand  men.  This 
misfortune  did  not  discourage  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg,  and,  in  the 
following  year,  another  armament  Avas  sent  into  the  Ukraine,  under 
the  command  of  Marshal  Munich,  while  a  second  army,  under  Lascy, 
proceeded  against  Azov.     Both  these  generals  met  with  considerable 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS.  55 

success ;  the  Tartars  were  defeated,  and  the  fortress  of  Azov  once  more 
submitted  to  the  Russian  arms.  A  third  campaign  took  place  in 
1737,  when  the  Russians  were  assisted  by  a  body  of  Austrian  troops. 
Munich  laid  seige  to  Otchakov,  which  surrendered,  while  Lascy  deso- 
lated the  Crimea.  No  material  advantages  were,  however,  gained  on 
either  side,  and  disputes  arose  between  the  Austrian  and  Russian 
generals.  At  length,  m  1739,  Marshal  Munich,  having  crossed  the 
Boug  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  army,  defeated  the  Turks  in  a 
pitched  battle  near  Stavutshain,  made  himself  master  of  Jassy,  the 
capital  of  Moldavia,  and,  before  the  end  of  the  campaign,  reduced  the 
whole  of  that  province  to  subjection.  These  successes  of  the  Russian 
arms  induced  the  Porte  to  propose  terms  of  accommodation;  but 
when,  in  the  latter  end  of  1739,  a  treaty  was  concluded,  Russia  (prob- 
ably through  the  influence  of  Austrian  intriguej  again  relinquished 
Azov  and  Moldavia,  and  only  gained  permission  to  build  a  fortress  on 
the  Don. 

The  Empress  Anne  rendered  herself  memorable  by  the  decisive 
turn  she  gave  to  the  contests  which  arose  in  Central  Europe.  She 
assisted  the  Emperor  Charles  VI.  of  Germany ;  frustrated  the  schemes 
of  the  French  ministry  for  placing  Stanislaus  on  the  throne  of  Poland, 
and  actually  procured  the  crown  for  his  competitor  Augustus,  the 
elector  of  Saxony.  Her  chief  merit,  however,  was  in  advancing  the 
commerce  of  the  country,  and  establishing  silk  and  woolen  manu- 
factures ;  her  chief  folly,  the  building  a  palace  of  ice,  to  which  she 
sent  a  Prince  Galitzin,  one  of  her  buffoons,  and  his  wife,  to  pass  the 
night  of  their  wedding-day ;  the  nuptial  couch  was  also  constructed  of 
this  cold  material,  as  well  as  all  the  furniture,  and  four  cannons 
which  fired  several  rounds. 

Anne  died  in  1740,  after  a  reign  of  ten  years,  and  was  succeeded  by 
her  great-nephew,  Ivan  VI.,  when  only  two  years  of  age.  He  was  the 
son  of  the  Princess  Anne  of  Mecklenburg,  the  daughter  of  her  eldest 
sister,  who  had  married  Prince  Anthony  Ulric  of  Brunswick-Beveren. 
The  administration  of  the  Princess  Anne  and  her  husband,  in  the 
name  of  their  son,  the  infant  Czar,  was  upon  many  accounts  unpopu- 
lar, not  only  among  the  Russians,  but  with  other  Powers  of  Europe ; 
and  notwithstanding  a  successful  war  which  they  carried  on  with  the 
Swedes,  the  Princess  Elizabeth  Petrowna,  daughter  of  Peter  the  Great 
by  the  Empress  Catherine,  and  born  in  1709,  formed  a  respectable 


56 


PETER  THE  GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


Russian  System  of  Feeding  Soldiers  in  Line. 


party  in  her  favor,  by  whom  she  was  raised  to  the  imperial  dignity  in 
December,  1741. 

The  Princess  of  Mecklenburg,  her  husband,  and  son,  were  made 
prisoners,  and  the  two  former  sent  into  banishment,  to  an  island  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Dwina,  in  the  White  Sea,  where  the  Princess  Anne  died 
in  child-bed  in  1747.  Ivan  was  for  some  time  shut  up  in  a  monastery 
at  Oranienburg ;  and  in  attempting  to  escape,  he  was  removed  to  the 
Castle  of  Schlusselburg,  where  he  was  afterward  cruelly  put  to  death. 

The  war  which  had  commenced  between  Russia  and  Sweden  during 
the  short  regency  of  Anne  of  Mecklenburg,  was  now  carried  on  with 
vigor  and  success  by  Elizabeth.  The  Russian  forces  took  possession 
of  Abo,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  greater  part  of  Finland. 
At  length,  in  consequence  of  the  negotiations  that  were  carrying  on 
relative  to  the  succession  of  the  Swedish  crown,  a  peace  was  concluded 
between  the  two  Powers,  in  1743,  on  condition  that  Elizabeth  should 
restore  the  conquered  part  of  Finland.  On  the  eastern  frontier  of  the 
Empire,  however,  the  Russian  arms  were  less  successful,  several  of  the 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS.  57 

provinces  wrested  from  Persia  by  Peter  the  Great  having  been  recon- 
quered by  Nadir  Kouli  Khan, 

Soon  after  her  accession,  Elizabeth  determined  to  nominate  her  suc- 
cessor to  the  imperial  throne,  and  had  fixed  on  Charles  Peter  Ulric, 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp,  by  Anne,  daughter  of  Peter  the 
Great.  This  Prince  was  accordingly  invited  into  Russia,  persuaded  to 
become  a  member  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  proclaimed  Grand  Duke 
of  Eussia,  and  heir  of  the  Empire. 

Elizabeth  now  began  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  politics  of  Europe. 
The  death  of  Charles  VL,  Emperor  of  Germany,  had  left  his  daughter 
Maria  Theresa,  Queen  of  Hungary,  at  the  mercy  of  the  enterprising 
King  of  Prussia,  Frederick  the  Great  (who  immediately  began  the 
"  Seven  Years'  War,"  by  seizing  the  province  of  Silesia  from  the  House 
of  Austria),  until  a  formidable  party,  more  from  jealousy  at  that 
monarch's  military  fame,  than  regard  to  the  interests  of  an  injured 
princess,  was  formed  in  her  behalf.  Frederick,  whose  sarcastic  wit 
spared  no  one,  having  satirized  in  some  verses  Madame  de  Pompadour, 
the  powerful  and  vindictive  mistress  of  Louis  XV.,  the  French  monarch 
at  once  espoused  the  cause  of  Austria ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that,  from 
a  like  trivial  cause,  the  Prussian  king  brought  upon  himself  the  ven- 
geance of  Elizabeth.  Detesting  Frederick  for  some  coarse  but  truth- 
ful remark  leveled  at  her  mother,  she  made  war  on  Prussia,  which 
was  conducted  with  great  ferocity.  Such  was  the  mutual  hatred  ex- 
cited by  this  contest,  that  after  a  battle  the  wounded  soldiers  of  the 
two  nations  Avere  seen  tearing  each  other's  flesh  with  their  hands  and 
teeth,  even  in  the  agonies  of  death ;  and  Marshal  Munich  declared,  in 
transmitting  to  the  Empress  an  account  of  a  victory  which  he  gained, 
but  with  the  loss  of  half  his  army :  "  If  I  gain  another  such  victorv, 
I  shall  be  compelled  to  go  myself,  on  foot  and  alone,  to  St.  Petersburg, 
to  inform  your  Majesty  of  the  result!"  Elizabeth  persisted,  however, 
in  prosecuting  the  war ;  and  was  on  the  point  of  crushing  the  Prussian 
monarch,  and  possessing  herself  of  his  most  valuable  territories,  when 
death  suddenly  closed  her  career,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1762,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-three,  and  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  her  reign. 

The  taste  of  this  Empress  for  architecture  greatly  contributed  to 
embellish  St.  Petersburg,  and  the  Academy  of  Painting  and  Sculpture 
in  that  capital  was  instituted  by  her.  She  was,  however,  a  model  of 
dissimulation  and  hyiDocrisy ;  and   while  from  feelings  of  pretended 


58  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

humanity  she  abolished  capital  punishment,  and  deplored  the  miseries 
her  troops  suffered  in  the  war  with  Prussia,  she  established  a  kind  of 
star-chamber,  in  which  justice  and  mercy  were  unknown.  That  her 
humanity  was  equivocal,  is  instanced  in  the  shocking  punishment  which 
she  inflicted  upon  the  Countess  Bestucheff  and  Lapookin,  who  were 
publicly  knouted,  and  had  their  tongues  cut  out,  for  betraying  some 
secrets  relating  to  the  amours  of  the  Empress. 

On  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  her  nephew,  the  Grand  Duke  Charles 
Peter  Ulric,  ascended  the  throne,  by  the  name  of  Peter  III.  This 
prince  entered  on  the  government  possessed  of  an  enthusiastic  admira- 
tion of  the  virtues  of  the  King  of  Prussia,  with  whom  he  immediately 
made  peace,  and  whose  principles  and  practice  he  seems  to  have 
adopted  as  patterns  for  his  imitation.  Several  wise  decrees  were 
passed  by  him ;  he  suppressed  the  secret  council  established  for  the 
examination  of  political  offenders,  softened  the  rigor  of  military  disci- 
pline, permitted  his  nobles  to  travel,  lowered  the  duties  in  the  Livonian 
ports,  reduced  the  price  of  salt,  abated  the  pressure  of  usury  by  the 
establishment  of  a  loan-bank,  and  instituted  other  salutary  measures. 
He  might  have  surmounted  the  effects  even  of  those  peculiarities  which 
were  unpopular  in  Russia ;  but  it  is  said  that  he  aimed  at  reformations 
in  his  dominions  which  even  Peter  the  Great  durst  not  carry  through ; 
among  which  was  his  attempt  at  cutting  off  the  venerable  beards  of 
his  clergy,  and  his  abolition  of  some  established  and  favorite  military 
fashions.  He  was,  however,  so  weak  and  vacillating  in  his  disposition 
that  he  had  no  opinions  of  his  own,  but  childishly  adopted  the  senti- 
ments of  any  person  who  took  the  trouble  to  teach  him.  His  tastes 
were,  moreover,  entirely  German,  which  amounted  to  a  crime  in  the 
eyes  of  the  nobility.  His  chief  amusement  was  buffoonery  ;  and  as  he 
was  a  comparative  stranger  to  the  country,  its  inhabitants,  and  their 
manners,  he  is  said  to  have  suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  those 
about  him  that  the  Russians  were  fools  and  beasts  unworthy  of  his 
attention,  except  to  make  them,  by  means  of  the  Prussian  discipline, 
good  fighting-machines.  These  sentiments  regulated  his  whole  con- 
duct, and  prepared  the  way  for  the  revolution  which  afterwards 
dethroned  him. 

Peter  was  married,  in  1745,  to  the  German  Princess  Catharine,  born 
in  1729,  and  daughter  to  the  Prince  of  Anhalt-Zerbst.  In  addition  to 
his  other  great  faults,  Peter  was  addicted  to  low  society  and  to  the 


PETER   Tim   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


The  Grand  Duke  and  Military  Officers  of  the  Russian  Army  AT 
St.  Petersburg. 


60  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS, 

most  scandalous  excesses ;  and  Catherine,  even  in  her  youth,  was  by 
no  means  remarkable  for  chastity.  With  the  inconsistency  usually 
observable  in  such  cases,  each  party  reproached  the  other ;  Catherine, 
stung  by  her  husband's  brutality,  became  still  more  openly  indecorous 
in  her  conduct,  and  Peter  indulged  in  low  wassail  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  must  have  been  deranged.  The  Empress,  who  was  as  talented 
as  she  was  ambitious,  took  every  means  in  her  power  to  secure  the 
good-will  of  her  Russian  subjects.  She  engaged  in  her  party  many  of 
the  principal  families,  and  what  Peter  lost  in  popularity  was  gained  by 
the  emissaries  of  Catherine.  While  the  latter,  in  spite  of  her  intrigues, 
was  thus  high  in  public  esteem  and  affection,  Peter  became  so  infatu- 
ated by  his  disgust  for  Catherine  and  his  son,  and  his  passion  for  one 
of  his  mistresses,  the  Countess  Woronzow,  that  he  determined  to  divorce 
and  imprison  the  former,  and  make  the  latter  his  Empress.  Catherine 
saw  her  danger,  and  instantly  formed  her  resolution,  foreseeing  that 
she  must  either  submit  to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  perhaps  a  cruel 
and  ignominious  death,  or  contrive  to  hurl  her  husband  from  the  throne. 
The  proper  steps  to  carry  out  her  design  were  immediately  taken  ;  folly 
and  imbecility  fell  before  ability  and  address ;  and  in  three  days  the 
revolution  was  accomplished.  Peter  was  seized  and  sent  as  a  prisoner 
to  the  small  palace  of  Ropscha,  about  twenty  miles  from  St.  Peters- 
burg ;  but  as  there  were  many  who  were  dissatisfied  with  the  new  order 
of  things,it  was  soon  found  that  there  was  little  chance  of  tranquility 
while  he  lived.  His  death  was  therefore  determined  on ;  and  at  the 
connivance,  if  not  at  the  positive  command  of  the  Empress,  the  un- 
fortunate monarch  was  assassinated  by  the  hand  of  his  chief  favorite, 
Prince  Alexis  Orlaff,  in  the  thirty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  after  having 
enjoyed  the  imperial  dignity  only  six  months.  This  tragic  event 
occurred  in  July,  1762,  and  in  the  next  month  the  Czarina  was  solemnly 
crowned  Empress  of  all  the  Russias,  under  the  name  of  Catherine  II. 

The  reign  of  this  extraordinary  woman  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
in  Russian  history.  In  the  early  part  of  it  she  interfered  in  the  affairs 
of  Poland,  which  produced  a  civil  war,  and  terminated  eventually  in 
the  partition  and  conquest  of  that  unfortunate  country.  In  1769  the 
Turks  declared  war  against  Russia,  which  was  at  first  favorable  to  their 
arras ;  but  they  were  afterward  defeated  with  great  slaughter  on  the 
Dniester,  and  compelled  to  abandon  Choczim.  At  this  period  was 
fought  the  celebrated  action  before  Tchesme,  in  which  the  Turkish  fleet 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


61 


A  Review  of  Russian  Troops. 


■was  completely  destroyed ;  an  achievement  that  was  mainly  owing  to 
the  gallant  conduct  of  Admirals  Elphinstone  and  Greig,  and  Lieutenant 
Dugdale,  Englishmen  in  the  Kussian  ser\^ce. 

In  a  succeeding  campaign,  the  Russians  carried  the  lines  of  Perecop, 
in  the  Crimea,  defended  by  nearly  sixty  thousand  Turks  and  Tartars, 
and  thus  wrested  that  important  and  fertile  peninsula  from  the  Porte, 
while  Romanzoff  gained  several  victories  in  the  Danubian  provinces. 
These  conquests  were,  however,  dearly  purchased.  The  plague  passed 
from  the  Turkish  into  the  Kussian  armies,  and  the  frightful  malady 
was  carried  by  the  troops  into  the  very  heart  of  the  country  ;  eight 
hundred  persons  died  daily  at  Moscow,  and  the  disease  subsided  only 
with  the  severity  of  the  ensuing  winter. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  the  Calmuck  Tartars  (as  alluded  to  in  a 
previous  chapter),  who  had  been  for  upwards  of  half  a  century  settled 


62  PETER    THE    GREAT   TO   NICHOLAS. 

near  the  Steppes  of  the  Volga,  north  of  Astrakhan,  suddenly,  and  to 
the  number  of  half  a  million  of  souls,  left  the  Russian  territory  for 
their  old  haunts  on  the  Chinese  borders — an  affront  offered  to  them  by 
the  Empress  having  been  said  to  be  the  cause  of  this  extraordinary 
flight. 

Every  attempt  at  negotiation  having  failed,  the  contest  with  the 
Turks  was  renewed  in  1773 ;  and  although  the  Russians  again  suffered 
severe  losses,  Romanzoff  brought  the  war  to  a  successful  termination. 
By  the  treaty  of  peace  concluded  in  the  following  year,  his  country 
obtained  the  free  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea,  the  cession  of  Kilburne 
and  Enikaleh,  together  with  a  tract  between  the  Boug  and  the  Dnieper, 
and  also  the  town  of  Taganrog  on  the  Sea  of  Azov.  Russia  restored 
her  other  conquests,  and  the  Turks  paid  into  the  Russian  treasury  four 
millions  of  roubles  toward  the  expenses  of  the  war ;  they  also  acknow- 
ledged the  independence  of  the  Crimea,  which  in  the  year  1784  fell 
altogether  into  the  hands  of  Russia,  as  well  as  the  island  of  Taman, 
and  part  of  the  Kouban  in  the  Caucasus. 

Shortly  after  this,  Catherine  and  the  northern  courts,  in  conjunction 
with  France,  jealous  of  the  British  maritime  power,  brought  about  a 
combination  against  England,  which  was  hastened  by  the  following 
singular  incident :  The  British  minister,  suspecting  that  this  intrigue 
was  going  on,  desired  Potemkin  to  lay  before  the  Empress  a  memorial 
that  he  had  drawn  up,  which  the  prince  promised  to  do.  Of  this 
memorial  the  French  governess  of  his  nieces  contrived  to  possess  herself, 
and  after  allowing  the  French  minister  to  make  his  notes  in  refutation 
of  it  in  the  margin,  replaced  it  in  Potcmkin's  pocket,  who,  ignorant  of 
the  circumstance,  laid  it  before  Catherine ;  when  the  empress,  conceiv- 
ing the  notes  to  have  been  made  by  her  favorite,  formed  a  league  with 
Sweden  and  Denmark,  and  announced  her  intention  of  supporting  it 
with  her  navy. 

In  1787  Catherine  made,  in  company  with  Potemkin  and  an  immense 
euite,  her  famous  triumphal  progress  to  the  Crimea,  and  the  following 
year  found  her  once  more  at  war  with  the  Turks.  Soon  after,  Gus- 
tavus  III.  of  Sweden,  seizing  this  favorable  opportunity,  invaded  the 
Russian  territories;  this  contest,  however,  produced  no  decisive  results, 
and  was  settled  by  a  pacification  in  1790.  In  the  close  of  that  year, 
Constantinople  trembled  at  the  former  movement  of  the  Russians ;  and 
the  fall  of  Ismail,  under  Suwarrow,  after  the  ninth  assault,  closed  the 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO   NICHOLAS.  63 

war  on  the  22d  of  December.  In  this  extremity,  the  Western  Powers 
of  Europe  combined  to  save  the  Porte  from  destruction;  and  in  1791 
Russia  was  forced  to  relinquish  all  the  territory  she  had  acquired,  ex- 
cepting that  guaranteed  by  the  treaty  of  1784.  In  the  various  wars  in 
which  Russia  had  been  engaged  with  the  Ottoman  Empire  down  to  the 
period  here  treated  of,  it  is  computed  that  there  were  destroyed  130,000 
Austrians,  370,000  Turks,  and  200,000  Russians;  in  all,  700,000  men! 
About  this  time  the  intrigues  of  Russia,  Austria  and  Prussia,  for 
the  partition  of  Poland,  commenced  and,  carried  on  for  several  years, 
were  brought  to  a  conclusion  by  two  sieges  of  "Warsaw ;  in  the  first, 
Kosciusko  was  made  prisoner ;  and  in  the  second  the  Poles,  unassisted 
by  his  genius,  gave  way  in  that  fearful  assault  which,  on  the  9th  of 
November,  1794,  consummated  the  ruin  of  Poland  as  a  nation.     In 

1795,  by  the  third  partition  of  that  unhappy  kingdom,  Russia  ex- 
tended her  power  toward  the  west  as  far  as  the  Vistula.  Catherine's 
subsequent  plans  of  aggrandizement  in  Daghestan  and  on  the  shores 
of  the  Caspian  were  cut  short  by  her  death,  on  the  9th  of  November, 

1796,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  her  age,  and  the  thirty -fifth  of  her 
reign. 

Ill  as  her  power  was  obtained,  Catherine  used  it  wisely  and  well. 
The  great  talents  for  governing  which  she  possessed  are  universallv 
admitted;  and,  though  her  energies  were  principally  displayed  in 
carrying  out  her  schemes  of  foreign  conquest,  she  by  no  means  neg- 
lected the  internal  affairs  of  her  Empire.  Her  views  on  all  subjects 
were  far  more  enlarged  than  those  of  her  predecessors,  and  nearly  seven 
thousand  children  were  educated  at  St.  Petersburg  at  the  public  expense. 
Catherine  visited  Pallas,  Euler  and  Gmelin,  to  survey  her  territories 
and  describe  their  characteristics,  and  requested  D'Alembert  to  under- 
take the  education  of  her  grandson,  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander, 
which,  however,  he  declined.  The  Empress  also  confirmed  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  secret  state  inquisition,  and,  by  dividing  the  College  of  the 
Empire  into  separate  departments,  facilitated  the  despatch  of  business, 
and  rendered  the  administration  in  each  more  efficient.  She  founded 
schools  and  towns,  encouraged  foreign  artisans  and  workmen  of  all 
kinds  to  settle  in  her  dominions,  and  projected  and  completed  public 
works  of  equal  magnificence  and  utility.  With  a  view  to  check 
corruption,  she  raised  the  salaries  of  the  government  officers,  abolished 
many  monopolies  of  the  crown,  and  issued  a  ukase  which  prevented 


64  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

any  proprietor  from  sending  his  serfs  to  the  mines,  or  to  any  distant 
part  of  the  Empire,  except  for  agricultural  purposes.  But  her  amours 
in  the  meantime  injured  her  as  a  woman,  and  her  tyrannous  conduct 
toward  Poland  is  a  foul  blot  upon  her  escutcheon  as  a  sovereign. 
Ambition,  however,  and  lack  of  female  virtues,  did  not  wholly  degrade 
her,  for,  as  already  shown,  her  internal  policy  was  as  much  directed  to 
the  useful  as  to  the  grand ;  and,  amid  all  the  distraction  of  business 
and  voluptuous  dissipation,  she  found  time  to  encourage  literature. 
Indeed,  she  was  herself  the  author  of  instructions  for  a  code  of  laws, 
which  she  translated  into  German ;  and  she  wrote  several  dramatic 
pieces,  and  some  moral  tales  for  the  use  of  children.  Possessed  of 
great  beauty  in  her  youth,  Catherine  preserved  the  traces  of  it  to  the 
end  of  her  life.  She  purchased  the  praises  of  the  French  philoso- 
phers, corresponded  with  Voltaire  and  D'Alembert,  and  complimented 
Charles  James  Fox,  the  great  English  orator,  by  asking  him  for  his 
bust,  which  she  placed  between  those  of  Demosthenes  and  Cicero. 
Some  letters  written  by  Frederick  the  Great  to  Peter  III.,  found  after 
his  decease,  which  strongly  recommended  to  him  a  change  of  conduct, 
and  particularly  pleaded  in  behalf  of  his  repudiated  consort,  fixed 
Catherine  throughout  her  reign  in  the  friendship  and  policy  of  the 
Kussian  monarch.  In  matters  of  religion,  she  was  tolerant  from 
political  motives,  extravagant  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  and,  with  a 
woman's  liberality,  paid  well  those  who  served  her ;  and,  though  there 
are  many  acts  in  her  reign  which  cannot  be  defended,  she  did  more 
for  the  civilization  of  Russia  than  any  of  her  predecessors. 

Catherine  II.  was  succeeded  by  her  son,  the  Grand  Duke  Paul,  who 
ascended  the  throne  under  the  title  of  Paul  I.  This  Prince  had 
attained  his  forty-second  year  before  the  death  of  his  mother  placed 
him  on  the  imperial  throne.  For  many  years  he  had  lived  in  a  state 
of  retirement,  and  had  apparently  been  considered  by  the  Empress  as 
incapable  of  taking  any  active  part  in  the  administration  of  affairs. 
It  is  well  known  that  Catherine  never  admitted  him  to  any  participa- 
tion of  power,  and  even  kept  him  in  complete  ignorance  of  the  affairs 
of  the  Empire.  On  the  day  following  the  death  of  his  mother, 
however,  Paul  made  his  public  entry  into  St.  Petersburg,  amid  the 
acclamations  of  all  ranks  of  the  people. 

At  his  coronation,  Paul  decreed  a  law  of  hereditary  succession  to  the 
crown  in  the  male  line,  and  afterward  in  the  female,  instead  of  leaving 


PETER  THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


65 


Field  Battery  of  the  Russians  on  the  River  Danube. 


it  to  the  caprice  of  the  reigning  sovereign.  One  of  the  first  measures 
of  the  new  Emperor  was  that  of  ordering  the  remains  of  his  father, 
Peter  III.,  to  be  removed  from  the  sepulchre  in  which  they  had  been 
deposited  in  the  church  of  St.  Alexander  Nevski ;  which,  after  having 
laid  in  state  for  three  Aveeks,  were  interred  in  the  sepulchre  of  Cath- 
erine II.,  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  He  also,  with 
strong  marks  of  admiration  and  friendship,  liberated  Kosciusko  from 
the  prison  wherein  he  had  languished  since  his  defeat  and  capture  in 
1794. 

Few  political  events  of  any  importance  marked  the  reign  of  Paul 
previous  to  the  year  1798,  when,  in  consequence  of  a  treaty  between 
Russia  and  the  Emperor  of  Germany,  who  were  subsidized  by  Eng- 
land, an  army  of  about  fifty  thousand  men,  under  Field-Marshal 
Suwarrow,  joined  the  imperialists  in  Austrian  Italy,  as  already  de- 
tailed. In  1799,  the  Emperor  Paul  entered  into  a  treaty  of  oflTensive 
and  defensive  alliance  with  Great  Britain.  This  treaty  was  signed  at 
5 


66  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

St.  Petersburg  on  the  22d  of  June,  in  consequence  of  which  a  Russian 
fleet  joined  that  of  Britain  in  Yarmouth  road,  and  took  part  in  the 
unfortunate  expedition  to  the  coast  of  Holland  undertaken  in  the 
summer  of  that  year. 

Soon  after  this  period  the  Russian  Emperor  began  to  show  marks  of 
mental  derangement.  His  favors  and  his  displeasures  were  alternately- 
experienced  by  some  of  his  most  distinguished  courtiers  and  adherents. 
Stanislaus,  the  deposed  King  of  Poland,  partook  by  turns  of  his  benefi- 
cence and  his  severity ;  while  to  the  memory  of  Suwarrow,  who  is  said 
to  have  fallen  a  broken-hearted  victim  to  the  detraction  of  his  imperial 
master,  he  raised  a  colossal  statue  of  bronze;  and  on  the  days  when  he 
reviewed  his  troops  in  the  square  where  the  statue  had  been  erected,  he 
used  to  command  them  to  march  by  in  open  order,  and  face  the  statue. 

The  ill  success  of  the  Russian  arms  against  the  French,  augmented 
by  the  bad  understanding  which  subsisted  between  his  generals  and 
those  of  Austria,  appeared  also  to  have  an  extraordinary  effect  upon 
the  mind  of  Paul.  Meanwhile,  Napoleon  had  returned  from  Egypt, 
and  was  chosen  First  Consul  of  France.  He  immediately  liberated  ten 
thousand  Russian  prisoners  of  war,  and  presenting  them  with  new 
uniforms  and  everything  necessary  for  their  long  journey,  despatched 
them  to  their  own  country,  together  with  a  friendly  epistle  to  their 
sovereign.  Paul  was  not  yet  so  "  insane"  but  that  he  could  appreciate 
this  truly  magnanimous  act  as  it  deserved ;  and,  from  having  been  the 
uncompromising  opponent  of  Napoleon,  he  now  entered  into  amicable 
correspondence  with  him,  and  became  one  of  his  most  ardent  admirers. 
He  laid  an  embargo  on  all  the  English  vessels  in  his  ports,  and  induced 
Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Prussia  to  join  him  in  the  northern  armed 
confederacy  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the  British  Government. 
This  gave  great  offence  to  the  mercantile  classes,  who  preferred  the 
English  to  the  French  alliance. 

The  growing  eccentricities  of  Paul  exhibited  themselves  in  the  most 
fantastic  manner.  Among  his  ukases  was  one  against  the  use  of  shoe- 
strings and  round  hats;  and  in  the  numbor  of  queer  whims  which 
affected  his  brain  was  a  rage  for  painting  with  the  most  glaring  colors 
the  watch-boxes,  gates,  and  bridges  throughout  the  Empire.  This  con- 
tinued course  of  folly  and  caprice  disgusted  many  of  the  nobles,  who 
at  length  entered  into  a  confederacy  to  prevent  the  ruin  of  their  coun- 
try, by  removing  the  Emperor.     For  this  purpose  they  employed  Plato 


PETER   THE  GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


67 


Winter  Camp  Life  of  Russian  Soldiers. 

Zuboff,  the  last  of  Catherine's  favorites,  who  had  been  banished  from 
the  court  in  disgrace.  In  order  to  avenge  this  affront,  Zuboff  formed 
the  design  of  murdering  the  Emperor.  He  contrived,  by  his  intrigues, 
to  insinuate  himself  into  the  favor  of  Paul,  and  associated  with  the 
noblemen,  in  order  the  more  securely  to  effect  his  purpose.  Having 
taken  their  measures,  the  assassins  proceeded  to  the  imperial  palace  on 
the  evening  of  March  22, 1801.  The  Emperor,  who  usually  slept  upon 
a  sofa,  in  an  apartment  next  to  that  of  the  Empress,  contrary  to  his 
custom,  kissed  the  members  of  his  family  very  affectionately,  visited 
the  sentinels  at  tbeir  posts,  and  then  retired  to  rest.  The  guard  being 
changed  by  officers  who  were  in  the  conspiracy,  the  murderers  pene- 
trated with  ease  to  the  door  of  the  Emperor's  apartment,  where  a  huzzar, 
whom  it  had  been  found  impossible  to  remove,  presented  his  musket. 
Zuboff  cut  him  down  with  his  sabre.  The  murder  of  his  faithful  ser- 
vant roused  the  unfortunate  monarch,  who,  springing  from  his  sofa 


68  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  MICHOLAS. 

when  the  conspirators  entered  the  room,  at  first  endeavored  to  shelter 
himself  behind  the  chairs  and  tables ;  then,  assuming  an  air  of  authority, 
commanded  them  to  surrender  as  his  prisoners.  As  they  fiercely  ad- 
vanced toward  him,  he  implored  them  to  spare  his  life,  ofiered  to  accept 
of  any  terms  which  they  might  propose.  Finding  supplication  vain, 
he  made  a  violent  effort  to  reach  the  window,  in  which  he  cut  his  hands ; 
and  being  drawn  back  he  knocked  down  one  of  the  assailants  with 
a  chair.  The  Empress,  awakened  by  the  noise  and  turmoil,  would 
have  called  for  assistance,  if  a  voice  had  not  whispered  to  her  to  remain 
silent  on  pain  of  instant  death.  While  the  Emperor  made  a  desperate 
resistance,  one  of  the  conspirators  brought  him  to  the  floor  with  a  blow 
on  the  temples ;  when,  recovering  a  little,  he  again  supplicated  for  life. 
Another,  taking  ofi*  his  sash,  threw  it  twice  around  the  neck  of  the 
defenceless  Czar ;  and  one  end  being  held  by  himself,  while  the  other 
was  given  to  Zuboff",  they  strangled  their  sovereign.  Having  accom- 
plished the  horrid  deed,  the  assassins  retired  without  molestation  to 
their  respective  homes. 

Early  the  next  morning  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Paul  (as 
having  been  produced  by  apoplexy)  and  the  accession  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Alexander,  were  announced  to  the  capital.  The  principal 
nobility  and  the  great  officers  of  State  being  assembled,  Alexander 
was  solemnly  proclaimed  Emperor  of  all  the  Russias.  As  in  the  case 
of  the  murder  of  Peter  III.,  none  of  the  assassins  of  Paul  were  jiunished, 
but  rewards  were  heaped  upon  them.  How  far  his  sons  were  cognizant 
of  what  was  going  on,  it  is  impossible  to  tell ;  but  it  was  generally 
believed  that  they  were  in  the  secret,  and  connived  at  it  from  a  convic- 
tion that  their  father  intended  to  immure  them  in  a  fortress.  It  is 
also  a  significant  fact  that,  on  the  night  of  the  murder,  the  English 
fleet  under  Kelson  was  sailing  into  the  Baltic  for  the  attack'  on 
Copenhagen. 

The  new  Emperor,  on  the  day  of  his  accession,  presented  himself  at 
the  parade  on  horseback,  and  was  hailed  by  the  troops  with  loud  and 
cordial  acclamations.  In  the  following  September  his  coronation  at 
Moscow  took  place  amid  great  splendor.  Alexander  was  in  his  twenty- 
fourth  year  when  he  ascended  the  throne ;  and  from  his  amiable  dispo- 
sition had  acquired  the  love  and  respect  of  all  his  subjects.  The  first 
measure  which  he  adopted,  his  opening  proclamation,  and  his  earliest 
imperial    orders,   all    tended    to   encourage    and   confirm   the   hopes 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO   NICHOLAS.  69 

with  which  the  Russian  people  beheld  him  mount  the  throne  of  his 
forefathers.  In  the  same  year  he  recalled  the  Siberian  exiles,  sup- 
pressed the  secret  State  inquisition  which  had  been  reestablished  by- 
Paul,  and  remodeled  the  Senate.  He  likewise  founded,  1804,  the 
University  of  KharkofT,  and  emancipated  the  Jews. 

Alexander  appeared  desirous  to  cultivate  the  fri'  ndship  of  the  neigh- 
boring States,  and  especially  that  of  Great  Britain.  His  father,  among 
other  projects,  had  procured  himself  to  be  elected  Grand  Master  of  the 
Knights  of  ]\Ialta,  and  had  laid  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  that  island. 
This  claim,  which  had  nearly  produced  a  rupture  between  the  Courts 
of  London  and  St.  Petersburg,  Alexander  consented  to  abandon,  though 
he  expressed  a  wish  to  be  elected  Grand  Master  of  the  Order  by  the  free 
suffrages  of  the  Knights  of  St.  John. 

In  the  meantime  a  confederacy  had  been  formed  among  the  northern 
Powers  of  Europe,  as  before  intimated,  with  a  view  to  oppose  the 
British  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  seas ;  but  by  the  wanton  bom- 
bardment of  Copenhagen,  and  the  spirited  interference  of  the  British 
Court,  especially  with  the  Cabinet  of  St.  Petersburg,  the  good  under- 
standing between  Great  Britain  and  the  northern  States  was  reestab- 
lished, and  the  embargo  which  had  been  laid  on  British  vessels  in  the 
Russian  ports  was  taken  off.  A  treaty  of  amity,  commerce  and  navi- 
gation between  Russia  and  Sweden  was  also  agreed  upon,  to  continue 
for  twelve  years.  The  most  remarkable  part  of  this  treaty  was  the 
recognition  by  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg  of  the  northern  confederacy, 
which  the  amicable  adjustment  with  Britain  appeared  to  have  done 
away. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1802,  was  signed  at  Amicus  the  definitive 
treaty  of  peace  between  the  belligerent  Powers  of  Europe,  by  one  ma- 
terial article  of  which  the  islands  of  Malta,  Gozo,  and  Comino,  in  the 
Mediterranean,  were  to  be  restored  to  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusa- 
lem, under  the  joint  protection  and  guarantee  of  France,  Great  Britain, 
Austria,  Spain,  Russia,  and  Prussia.  Some  time  after  the  conclusion 
of  this  treaty  disputes  arose  among  the  contracting  powers  relative  to 
the  sovereignty  of  Malta;  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia  (who  now  for  the 
first  time  appeared  personally  among  the  potentates  of  Europe,  and 
in  June  had  an  interview  with  the  King  of  Prussia  at  Memel)  insisted 
that  it  should  be  yielded  to  Naples,  otherwise  he  would  not  undertake 
to  guarantee  the  Order  of  the  Knights,  and  would  separate  from  it  the 


70  PETER    THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

priories  of  Russia.  The  retention  of  this  island  by  the  British  forces, 
in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty  above  referred  to,  was  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  the  renewal  of  the  bloody  contest  between  England  and  her 
allies  and  Napoleon  which  so  long  desolated  the  face  of  Europe. 

Alexander  watched  with  a  jealous  eye  the  violence  exercised  by 
France  among  the  German  States,  and  the  encroachments  which  she 
appeared  desirous  of  making  on  the  free  navigation  of  the  Baltic.  He 
had,  in  1803,  offered  his  mediation  between  Great  Britain  and  France, 
but  Avithout  effect,  and  both  these  parties  strove  to  bring  over  the  Rus- 
sian Emperor  to  their  alliance.  The  Court  of  London  finally  prevailed ; 
and  on  the  11th  of  April,  1805,  a  treaty  of  concert  was  concluded  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  Russia,  to  which  Austria  also  became  a  party, 
in  Avhich  the  three  governments  agreed  to  adopt  the  most  efficacious 
means  for  forming  a  general  league  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe  to 
be  directed  against  the  Powers  of  republican  France.  The  ostensible 
objects  of  this  league  were  the  evacuation  of  the  country  of  Hanover 
(then  belonging  to  the  crown  of  England)  and  the  north  of  Germany ; 
the  independence  of  the  republics  of  Holland  and  Switzerland ;  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia  in  Piedmont  (who  had  first 
attacked  France)  ;  the  security  of  the  King  of  Naples ;  and  the  com- 
plete evacuation  of  Italy,  the  island  of  Elba  included,  by  the  French 
forces ;  but  the  principal  motive,  and  underlying  all  others,  was  the 
desire  for  overthrowing  Napoleon,  the  elective  Emperor,  and  reinstating 
the  Bourbons,  to  reign  by  "  Divine  right,"  and  thus  presenting  a  solid 
barrier  against  the  future  spread  of  free  principles.  For  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  great  objects  of  this  treaty,  it  was  proposed  that  an  army  of 
four  hundred  thousand  men  should  be  levied.  It  was  stipulated  that 
these  troops  should  be  provided  by  the  Powers  of  the  Continent  who 
should  become  parties  to  the  league,  and  that  subsidies  should  be 
granted  by  Great  Britain  in  the  proportion  of  over  six  millions  of  dol- 
lars for  every  hundred  thousand  men,  besides  a  considerable  additional 
sum  for  the  necessary  expense  of  bringing  them  into  the  field. 

About  this  time,  the  occupation  of  Genoa  by  the  French,  in  order  to 
preserve  it  from  an  attack  by  the  English  fleet,  was  communicated  to 
the  different  sovereigns  of  Europe,  among  whom  it  excited  the  highest 
indignation.  The  Emperor  Alexander,  incensed  at  this  new  act  of 
Napoleon,  immediately  recalled  his  envoy ;  and  this  appeared  to  be  the 
signal  for  hostilities  on  the  part  of  Russia  and  Austria  against  France. 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


71 


Napoleon,  well  knowing  the  British  government  and  aristocracy  to  be 
the  main  projectors  of  all  the  coalitions  against  him,  had  collected  an 
immense  armament  at  Boulogne  for  the  invasion  of  England;  but 
learning  that  Alexander,  at  the  head  of  fifty  thousand  men,  was  rapidly 
marching  to  join  the  Austrians  under  the  Emperor  Francis,  for  the 
purpose  of  secretly  attacking  France,  he  resolved  to  meet  them  on  their 


72  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

own  ground.  "With  surprising  celerity  he  traversed  France  and  Ger- 
many, and  encountering  the  superior  forces  of  the  allies  on  the  plain  of 
Austerlitz,  December  2,  1805,  he  utterly  overthrew  them.  In  their 
retreat  across  a  lake,  a  large  body  of  Eussians  were  drowned  by  the 
breaking  of  the  ice  from  the  artillery  shots  of  the  French.  The  Empe- 
rors Francis  and  Alexander,  from  an  eminence,  beheld  with  anguish 
the  complete  discomfiture  of  their  splendid  army,  and  the  latter  soon 
after  returned  to  St.  Petersburg.  When  the  news  of  this  decisive  battle 
reached  England,  the  prime  minister  Pitt  remarked,  "  We  may  now 
close  the  map  of  Europe  for  years."  His  death,  soon  after,  was  has- 
tened by  chagrin. 

The  consequence  of  these  disastrous  events  to  the  allies  was,  first,  a 
cessation  of  hostilities,  and  finally  a  treaty  of  alliance  between  Russia 
and  France  in  1806.  Alexander,  however,  was  determined  to  make 
one  more  effort  to  gain  better  terms  from  Napoleon.  The  Eussian 
envoy  at  Paris,  D'Oubril,  had  hastily  concluded  a  preliminary  treaty 
of  peace  between  Eussia  and  France.  The  terms  of  this  convention, 
•when  laid  before  the  privy  council  by  Alexander,  appeared  so  deroga- 
tory to  the  interests  of  Eussia,  that  the  Emperor  refused  them  his 
sanction ;  but  at  the  same  time  signified  his  willingness  to  renew  the 
negotiations  for  peace  on  such  terms  as  were  consistent  with  the  dignity 
of  his  crown  and  the  interests  of  his  empire.  The  machinations  of  the 
British  government,  however,  broke  off  the  negotiations,  and  both  par- 
ties again  prepared  for  war. 

In  the  meantime,  the  King  of  Prussia,  urged  on  by  the  English  and 
Austrian  cabinets,  prepared  to  oppose  his  efforts  to  the  growing  power 
of  France.  He  collected  an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men  near 
Weimar  and  Jena,  while  the  French  forces  assembled  in  Franconia 
and  on  the  frontiers  of  Saxony.  The  same  extraordinary  success,  how- 
ever, was  still  to  attend  the  arms  of  France.  The  Prussians  were 
totally  defeated  by  Napoleon  at  Jena ;  and  the  same  day  was  fought 
the  decisive  battle  of  Aurstadt,  in  which  Marshal  Davoust,  with  an 
inferior  French  force,  completely  routed  the  enemy,  who,  besides  nu- 
merous infantry  and  artillery,  had  forty  thousand  splendid  cavalry, 
commanded  by  the  Prince  of  Prussia.  In  these  two  actions  the  loss 
of  the  Prussians  amounted  to  about  twenty  thousand  in  killed  and 
■wounded,  and  over  thirty  thousand  prisoners.  The  lines  of  fugitives, 
converging  from  the  fields  of  Jena  and  Auerstadt,  fled  tumultuously 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


73 


Shoeing  Cavalry  Horses  in  Russia. 


toward  Berlin,  which  capital  Napoleon  entered  on  the  27th  of  Oc- 
tober. 

While  the  French  were  thus  successful  over  the  Prussians,  the  troops 
of  Alexander  entered  Prussian  Poland,  and  General  Benningsen  took 
up  his  residence  at  Warsaw,  which,  however,  he  was  soon  compelled  to 
evacuate  by  the  French  under  Murat,  who  entered  the  city  on  the  28th 
of  November.  After  several  skirmishes,  in  which  the  Prussians  were 
were  defeated,  a  dreadful  engagement  took,  place  between  them  and 
the  French  at  Ostralenka,  about  sixty  miles  from  Warsaw.  The  fight- 
ing continued  for  three  days,  and  the  loss  was  immense  on  both  sides, 
though  the  advantage  appears  to  have  been  on  the  side  of  the  French. 
On  the  26th  of  December  the  latter  were  beatpn  by  the  Russians  at 
Pultusk,  which  terminated  the  campaign  of  1806. 

On  the  7th  and  8th  of  February,  1807,  the  severely  contested  battle 
of  Eylau  was  fought,  in  which  Napoleon  commanded  in  person  at  the 
head  of  the  imperial  guards.  Each  side  three  times  lost  and  won,  the 
deciding  move  being  made  by  Benningsen,  who  took  Koningsberg  by 


74  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

assault.  At  one  time,  while  Napoleon  was  recounoitering  the  field  of 
battle  from  a  church  a  detachment  of  Cossacks  dashed  up  the  streets 
of  the  town,  and  would  have  captured  him,  but  for  a  timely  charge  of 
French  dragoons.  On  the  night  of  the  8th,  Benningsen  was  reinforced 
by  fifteen  thousand  Prussians,  who  wished  to  renew  the  battle  op  the 
third  day,  but  at  a  council  of  war  the  Russian  commander  deemed  it 
prudent  to  retreat,  though  greatly  superior  in  force  to  the  French. 

Several  actions  succeeded,  at  Spanden,  at  Lamitten,  at  Guttdatsd, 
and  at  Heilsberg,  in  all  of  which  the  French  had  the  advantage. 
On  the  28th  of  May,  1807,  they  took  Dantzic ;  and  on  the  14th  of 
June  the  Russians  appeared  in  considerable  force  on  the  bridge  of 
Friedland,  whither  the  French  army  under  Napoleon  was  advancing. 
Here,  notwithstanding  the  utmost  efforts  of  the  Russians,  they  were 
totally  defeated  by  the  French,  who  carried  all  before  them.  In 
consequence  of  this  victory,  the  latter  became  masters  of  all  the  country 
round  Koningsberg,  and  Marshal  Soult  entered  that  city  in  triumph. 
Thus  concluded  the  campaign  in  Germany,  in  which  the  Russians 
sustained  a  loss  of  at  least  thirty  thousand  of  their  choicest  troops. 

The  defeats  which  the  allied  armies  had  suffered  in  Prussia  and 
Poland  rendered  peace  on  almost  any  terms  a  desirable  object;  and 
Alexander  found  himself  constrained  to  meet,  at  least  with  the  appear- 
ance of  friendship,  the  conqueror  of  his  armies.  Propositions  for  an 
armistice  had  been  made  by  the  Prussian  General  to  the  Grand  Duke 
of  Berg,  near  Tilsit ;  and,  after  the  battle  of  Friedland,  the  Russian 
Prince  Labanoff"  had  a  conference,  for  the  same  purpose,  with  the 
Prince  of  Neufchatel,  soon  after  which  an  armistice  was  concluded 
between  the  French  and  Russians.  On  the  25th  of  June  an  amicable 
meeting  took  pLace  between  the  Emperors  of  France  and  Russia,  in 
a  handsome  pavilion  erected  on  a  raft  for  the  occasion,  which  was 
moored  in  the  middle  of  the  river  Niemen.  The  result  of  this  inter- 
view was  the  famous  treaty  of  Tilsit,  concluded  between  the  Emperor 
of  the  French  on  the  one  part,  and  the  Emperor  of  Russia  and  the 
King  of  Prussia  on  the  otlier,  on  the  7th  and  12th  of  July,  1807. 

Alexander,  by  this  compact,  became  the  ally  of  France,  and  ac- 
knowledged the  brothers  of  Napoleon  as  kings  respectively  of  Naples, 
Holland,  and  Westphalia;  he  formally  recognized  also  the  confedera- 
tion of  the  Rhine,  and  promised  to  acknowledge  all  the  sovereigns  who 
might  hereafter  become  members  of  that  confederation.    He  engaged 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS.  75 

that  hostilities  on  the  part  of  Russia  should  immediately  cease  with 
the  Ottoman  Porte.  He  undertook  also  to  mediate  for  a  peace  between 
England  and  France.  This  mediation  was  declined  on  the  part  of  the 
British  Government,  until  it  should  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Tilsit,  and  should  find  them  not  conflicting 
with  its  own  claims  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Baltic  and  the 
introduction  of  British  goods  to  the  continent.  The  grounds  of  this 
declination  served  as  a  reason  for  binding  more  closely  the  alliance 
between  Russia  and  France,  by  breaking  off  the  connection  of  the 
former  with  Great  Britain.  Accordingly,  Lord  Gower,  who  had 
succeeded  the  Marquis  of  Douglas  as  envoy,  received  a  note  from  the 
Russian  Government,  intimating  that,  as  a  British  embassador,  he 
could  be  no  longer  received  at  the  court  of  St.  Petersburg,  which  he 
therefore  soon  after  quitted. 

An  embargo  was  now  laid  on  all  British  vessels  in  the  ports  of 
Russia,  and  it  was  peremptorily  required  by  Napoleon  and  Alexander 
that  Sweden  should  abandon  her  alliance  with  Great  Britain.  An 
additional  cause  for  the  Russian  declaration  of  war  against  the  latter 
power  was  furnished  by  the  second  bombardment  of  Copenhagen,  and 
the  seizure  of  the  Danish  fleet  in  the  harbor  by  a  British  squadron ; 
and,  although  Lord  Gower  had  attempted  to  justify  these  measures,  on 
the  plea  of  anticipating  the  French  in  the  same  transaction,  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  expressed  in  the  warmest  terms  his  indignation  at 
this  unjust  and  outrageous  attack  on  a  neutral  power.  A  considerable 
Russian  fleet  joined  the  French,  but  the  combined  squadrons  w^re 
compelled  to  seek  for  shelter  in  the  Tagus,  where  they  remained 
blocked  up  by  a  superior  British  armament;  and  another  Russo-French 
fleet  of  fifteen  sail-of-the-line  that  proceeded  up  the  Mediterranean,  and 
advanced  as  far  as  Trieste,  met  with  a  similar  fate.  In  fact,  hostilities 
between  Russia  and  England  resulted  chiefly  in  a  cessation  of  trade. 

The  demand  of  concurrence  in  the  views  of  France  and  Russia 
made  on  Sweden,  was  formally  repeated  in  a  declaration  of  the  Emperor 
Alexander,  published  at  St.  Petersburg  on  the  10th  of  February,  1808. 
In  this  declaration,  his  Imperial  ^Majesty  intimated  to  the  King  of 
Sweden  that  he  was  making  preparations  to  invade  his  territories ;  but 
that  he  was  ready  to  change  the  measures  he  was  about  to  take,  to 
measures  of  precaution  only,  if  Sweden  would,  without  delay,  join 
Russia  and  Denmark  in  shutting  the  Baltic  against  Great  Britain 


76 


PETER   THE  GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


r\ 


A  Russian  Military  Post  on  the  Pruth. 


until  the  conclusion  of  a  maritime  peace.  He  professed  that  nothing 
could  be  more  painful  to  him  than  to  see  a  rupture  take  place  between 
Sweden  and  Russia ;  but  that  his  Swedish  Majesty  had  it  still  in  his 
power  to  avoid  this  event,  by  resolving,  without  delay,  to  adopt  that 
course  which  could  alone  preserve  strict  union  between  the  two  states. 
The  King  of  Sweden,  however,  determined  to  abide  by  the  measures 
■which  he  had  for  some  time  pursued,  and  accede  to  the  terms  of  the 
convention  which  had  just  been  concluded  between  him  and  the  King 
of  Great  Britain. 

In  consequence  of  this  determination,  a  Russian  army,  under  the 
command  of  General  Buxhowden,  entered  Finland  in  the  beginning 
of  March,  1808,  and  advanced  against  Helsingfors,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  a  single  battalion  of  a  Swedish  regiment.  This  small  force 
retired  into  the  fortress  of  Swealborg,  where  they  maintained  them- 
selves with  great  bravery  till  the  17th  of  April,  when  they  were 
obliged  to  capitulate.  The  loss  of  this  fortress,  though  inconsiderable 
in  itself,  so  highly  enraged  the  King  of  Sweden  that  he  dismissed  the 
naval  and  military  commanders  who  had  been  concerned  in  the 
capitulation.     The  Russians  soon  overran  nearly  all  Finland,  took 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS.  77 

possession  of  Vasa,  old  and  new  Carleby,  and  reduced  to  subjection 
the  whole  province  of  which  Vasa  is  the  capital.  The  King  of  Sweden 
continued  to  send  reinforcements  to  his  armies  in  Finland;  but  no 
advantages  of  any  importance  were  obtained,  and  the  Russians  re- 
mained in  possession  of  a  great  part  of  that  province  until  it  was 
permanently  ceded  to  Russia  in  1809. 

A  second  meeting  between  the  Emperors  of  France  and  Russia  took 
place  at  Erfurth,  in  Saxony,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1808  ;  Napo- 
leon being  anxious  to  secure  the  friendship  of  Alexander  previous  to 
his  meditated  subjection  of  S^^ain.  The  English  cabinet  had  now 
succeeded  in  forming  another  coalition  against  France,  hostilities 
being  commenced  by  her  old  ally,  Austria,  while  Sir  John  Moore  was 
despatched  with  a  strong  force  to  Spain. 

Alexander  became  the  ally  of  France,  and  took  part  as  such,  m 
the  war  now  opened  by  Austria ;  but  his  want  of  zeal  in  the  cause  was 
too  evident  to  escape  the  penetration  of  the  French  Emperor,  and 
a  growing  coldness  between  the  imperial  allies  began  to  appear. 
Austria,  completely  humbled  by  the  defeat  of  Wagram,  was  compelled 
to  form  an  alliance  with  Napoleon. 

Great  injury  had,  however,  been  done  to  Russian  commerce,  and 
heavy  complaints  made  by  merchants,  in  consequence  of  thei'*  ports 
having  been  shut  against  the  English ;  they  were  therefore  again  opened 
to  them,  provided  they  hoisted  American  colors,  while  French  goods 
were  very  strictly  prohibited.  This  induced  Napoleon,  in  retaliation, 
to  make  himself  master  of  the  principal  northern  ports  of  Germany, 
and  to  incorporate  the  possessions  of  the  Duke  of  Oldenburg,  a  near 
relation  of  Alexander,  with  France.  Against  this  proceeding  Russia 
made  a  very  energetic  protest ;  and,  in  the  year  1811,  five  divisions  of 
the  Russian  army  assumed  a  position  opposite  Warsaw.  On  the  other 
hand.  Napoleon  caused  the  fortresses  on  the  Vistula  and  Oder  to  be 
declared  in  a  state  of  siege,  sent  thither  large  masses  of  troops,  and 
occupied  Swedish  Pomerania,  because  Charles  XIII.  of  Sweden  ad- 
hered to  his  alliance  with  England. 

The  contest  in  Spain,  where  Wellington  was  operating  with  a 
powerful  British  auxiliary  force,  was  at  this  time  daily  growing  more 
obstinate,  and  the  large  amount  of  men  and  money  it  consumed  might 
well  have  appeared  to  Napoleon  a  sufficient  obstacle  to  a  struggle 
with  Russia ;  but  he  calculated  that  his  entire  armies,  amounting  to 


78  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS, 

nearly  a  million  of  effective  men,  would  be  sufficient  for  the  conflict 
in  both  quarters ;  and  he  also  relied  upon  a  great  mass  of  auxiliary- 
forces,  chiefly  promised  by  the  confederation  of  the  Rhine ;  besides  his 
alliance  with  Prussia  and  Austria,  which  covered  him  on  both  flanks, 
and  secured  his  retreat.  He,  however,  made  peaceable  offers,  through 
the  Count  de  Narbonne,  his  ambassador  at  St.  Petersburg ;  but  the 
object  of  his  mission  being  unattained,  about  half  a  million  of  soldiers, 
consisting  of  French,  Germans,  Italians,  Poles,  Swiss,  Spaniards,  and 
Portuguese,  with  more  than  twelve  hundred  cannon,  were  put  in  motion 
about  the  end  of  July,  1812,  to  attack  the  Russians  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Niemen  and  the  Vistula. 

To  meet  this  invasion,  Alexander,  having  reestablished  his  alliance 
with  Great  Britain,  made  peace  with  the  Sultan,  and  withdrew  his 
troops  from  the  Turkish  frontier.  He  also  issued  a  ukase,  on  the 
23d  of  March,  ordering  a  levy  of  two  men  out  of  every  five  hundred 
throughout  the  Empire.  The  Russians,  in  three  divisions,  occupied  a 
line  including  Kiev  and  Smolensk  to  Riga.  All  the  disposable  pro- 
perty and  records  had  long  before  been  conveyed  into  the  interior. 
The  first  western  Russian  army  in  Poland  w'as  stationed  along  the 
Kiemen  as  far  as  Grodno.  The  second  western  army  was  in  the 
vicinity  of  Honiur.  Besides  these,  there  were  additional  corps  sta- 
tioned at  other  points  in  the  western  frontier. 

The  Russian  plan  of  the  campaign  was,  Jby  retreating,  to  avoid  a 
decisive  battle,  until  the  enemy  should  be  remote  from  all  his  re- 
sources, and  weakened  by  marches  through  a  desolate  region,  and  the 
Russian  army  should  be  so  considerably  strengthened  by  the  accession 
of  all  the  forces  that  might  be  meanwhile  raised,  as  to  have  a  decided 
superiority.  Najwleon's  scheme,  on  the  contrary,  was  to  use  every 
effort  to  draw  the  Russians  into  battle,  to  destroy  them  after  the 
defeat,  and  pressing  forward  with  haste  to  the  capital,  to  proffer  peace. 
But  he  not  only  entirely  mistook  the  character  of  his  enemy,  but  he 
overlooked  the  important  fact  that,  though  the  Russians  might  retreat, 
they  would  still  be  in  possession  of  their  resources. 

On  the  6th  of  June,  1812,  Napoleon  crossed  the  Vistula,  and  on  the 
23d  the  Niemen,  and  pushed  on  to  AVilna,  the  Russians  carefully 
retreating.  Here  the  French  Emperor  remained  eighteen  days,  and 
then  marched  on  Vitepsk.  The  Russian  General  retired  to  Smolensk. 
Fatigue  had  meanwhile  operated  so  disastrously  on  the  French  army, 


PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS 


79 


General  Ignatieff,  Russian  Ambassador  at  Constantinople. 

that  it  was  obliged  to  halt  for  ten  days,  during  which  the  two  Russian 
armies  formed  a  junction  under  the  walls  of  Smolensk.  Napoleon 
crossed  the  Dnieper  and  marched  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy.  The  Rus- 
sians now  began  to  act  on  the  offensive,  and  Napoleon  ordered  his 
right  wing  to  hasten,  by  rapid  marches,  to  cut  them  off  from  Moscow. 
At  midnight  on  the  17th  the  French  succeeded  in  capturing  Smolensk, 


80  PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

•which  was  reduced  to  ruins,  its  magazines  having  been  destroyed  or 
removed,  and  the  houses  set  on  fire  by  tlie  departing  inhabitants. 

The  Russian  army  retired  in  haste,  pursued  by  Napoleon.  The 
battle  of  Borodind,  near  Moscow,  was  fought  on  the  1st  of  September, 
resulting  in  a  decisive  victory  for  the  French.  The  Russians  con- 
tinued slowly  and  sullenly  to  retreat  towards  Moscow,  establishing 
their  batteries  wherever  they  could  make  a  stand.  They  drove  before 
them  the  wretched  serfs,  blew  up  the  bridges  behind  them,  burned  the 
towns  as  they  passed  along,  and  carried  away  or  destroyed  all  the 
provisions  and  forage.  For  seven  days  the  French  pursued  their  foes 
over  the  dreary  plains.  They  were  everywhere  victorious,  and  yet 
they  obtained  no  results  from  their  victories.  Count  Rostopchin,  the 
Governor,  was  making  effectual  preparations  for  the  conflagration  of 
the  city  of  Moscow,  and  was  urging,  by  every  means  in  his  power,  the 
evacuation  of  the  city  by  the  inhabitants. 

About  noon  of  the  14th  of  September,  Napoleon  descried,  from  the 
summit  of  the  Sparrow  hills,  the  glittering  domes  and  minarets  of 
Moscow.  He  reined  in  his  horse,  and  exclaimed,  "  Behold  !  Yonder 
is  the  celebrated  city  of  the  Czars."  After  gazing  upon  it  for  a  few 
moments  in  silence,  he  remarked,  "  It  was  full  time."  The  soldiers, 
thinking  that  their  sufferings  were  now  at  an  end,  and  anticipating 
good  quarters  and  abundant  supplies,  gave  way  to  transports  of  joy. 
Shouts  of  "  Moscow  1  Moscow !"  spread  from  rank  to  rank,  and  all 
quickened  their  pace  to  gain  a  view  of  the  object  of  their  wishes. 
They  approached  the  city,  but,  to  their  amazement,  they  met  but 
silence  and  solitude.  The  astounding  intelligence  was  brought  to 
Napoleon  that  the  city  was  deserted.  A  few  miserable  creatures,  who 
had  been  released  from  the  prisons  to  fire  the  city  as  soon  as  the 
French  should  have  taken  possession,  were  found  in  the  streets.  They 
were  generally  intoxicated,  and  presented  a  squalid  and  hideous  spec- 
tacle. The  soldiers  dispersed  through  the  city  in  search  of  provisions 
and  quarters.  ^Many  of  the  inhabitants  had  left  in  such  haste,  that 
the  rich  ornaments  of  the  ladies  were  found  on  their  toilets,  and  the 
letters  and  gold  of  men  of  business  on  their  desks. 

On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  Napoleon  removed  his  headquarters  to 
the  Kremlin.  lie  immediately  wrote  to  Alexander,  proposing  terms 
of  peace.  The  day  was  passed  in  establishing  the  army  in  their  new 
quarters.     Some  twenty  thousand  men  and  women  of  the  lowest  class, 


Abdul  Hamid  IT.,  the  Deposed  Sultan  of  Turkey. 


PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS.  81 

fierce  and  revolting  in  aspect,  gradually  stole  from  their  hiding-places 
and  mingled  with  the  French  troops.  Ten  thousand  prisoners,  who 
had  been  liberated  by  the  Governor,  were  stealthily  preparing  to 
convert  the  magnificent  metropolis  into  a  vast  "  infernal  machine" 
for  the  destruction  of  the  French  army.  Immense  magazines  of 
powder  were  placed  beneath  the  Kremlin  and  other  structures  that 
would  be  filled  with  soldiers ;  shells  and  other  destructive  engines  of 
war  were  secreted,  in  vast  quantities,  in  chambers  and  cellars;  the 
fountains  had  also  been  destroyed,  the  water-pipes  cut,  and  the  fire- 
engines  carried  oflP. 

About  midnight  of  the  16th  the  cry  of  "Fire!"  was  suddenly  heard 
in  the  streets.  Far  oflf  in  the  east  of  the  Kremlin,  immense  volumes 
of  smoke  and  flame  were  rolling  up  into  the  stormy  sky.  Loud 
explosions  of  bursting  shells  and  upheaving  mines  scattered  death  and 
dismay  around.  The  flames  spread  in  all  directions.  Mines  were 
sprung,  shells  burst,  cannons  discharged,  wagons  of  powder  and  maga- 
zines blew  up,  and  in  a  few  hours  of  indescribable  confusion  and 
terror,  the  whole  vast  city  was  wrapped  in  an  ocean  of  flame.  The 
French  soldiers  shot  the  incendiaries,  bayoneted  them,  tossed  them 
into  the  fire ;  but  still,  like  demons,  they  plied  their  work.  During 
the  whole  of  the  17th  and  the  ensuing  night  the  fire  continued  to 
rage,  and  at  last  reached  the  Kremlin,  forcing  Napoleon  to  retire  to 
the  castle  of  Petrowski,  about  three  miles  distant;  but  the  flames 
abating  on  the  19th,  he  returned  to  that  portion  of  the  Kremlin  which 
yet  remained  uninjured. 

The  confusion  and  tumult  which  ensued  when  the  work  of  pillage 
commenced  cannot  be  conceived.  Soldiers,  sutlers,  and  galley-slaves 
were  seen  running  through  the  streets,  penetrating  into  the  deserted 
palaces,  and  carrying  away  everything  that  could  gratify  their  avarice. 
Some  clothed  themselves  with  silks  and  costly  furs;  others  dressed 
themselves  in  women's  attire;  and  even  the  galley-slaves  concealed 
their  rags  under  the  most  splendid  court  dresses ;  the  rest  crowded  to 
the  cellars,  and,  forcing  open  the  doors,  drank  the  wine  and  carried 
off*  an  immense  booty.  This  horrible  pillage  was  not  confined  to  the 
deserted  houses,  but  extended  to  the  few  which  were  inhabited,  and 
soon  the  eagerness  and  wantonness  of  the  plunderers  caused  devasta- 
tions which  almost  equalled  those  occasioned  by  the  conflagration. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19  th  of  October,  after  a  stay  of  thirty-four 
6 


82  PETER    THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

days,  Napoleon  quitted  Moscow  and  retreated  toward  Kalouga.  And 
now  the  picture  of  the  advance  to  Moscow  was  to  be  reversed. 
Hordes  of  Cossacks  hung  upon  the  rear  of  the  retreating  army,  cutting 
off  the  stragglers  and  committing  every  atrocity.  Murat  was  defeated 
at  Malo-Yaroslavitz  on  the  24th  of  October,  and  an  unsuccessful  stand 
was  made  at  Viasma  on  the  3d  of  November.  On  the  6th,  a  winter 
peculiarly  early  and  severe,  even  for  Kussia,  set  in ;  the  thermometer 
sank  eighteen  degrees,  the  wind  blew  furiously  over  the  desert  country, 
and  the  soldiers,  vainly  struggling  with  the  eddying  snow  which  drove 
against  them  with  the  violence  of  a  whirlwind,  could  no  longer  distin- 
guish the  road,  and,  falling  into  the  ditches  by  the  side,  were  quickly 
covered  with  the  wintry  mantle,  and  there  found  a  grave.  Others 
crawled  on,  badly  clothed,  with  nothing  to  eat  or  drink,  frost-bitten, 
and  groaning  with  pain.  \Yhat  scenes  did  not  the  retreat  then  pre- 
sent! Discipline  was  gone;  under  such  horrible  sufferings  even  these 
tried  and  veteran  soldiers  could  no  longer  obey  their  officers.  Thus 
disorganized,  they  spread  themselves  right  and  left  in  search  of  food, 
and,  as  the  horses  fell,  seized  upon  their  mangled  carcasses  and  de- 
voured them  raw  like  dogs.  Many  remained  by  the  dying  embers  of 
the  bivouac-fire,  and,  as  these  expired,  an  insensibility  crept  over  them 
which  soon  became  the  sleep  of  death — thus  thousands  perished. 

On  the  9th  of  November  Napoleon  reached  Smolensk,  and  remained 
till  the  15th,  collecting  his  scattered  forces,  now  reduced  to  forty 
thousand  effective  men,  when  he  set  out  for  Krasnoi.  Meantime,  the 
Russian  commander,  with  a  hundred  thousand  troops,  advanced  by  a 
parallel  road,  and  stationed  himself  across  Napoleon's  route;  while  the 
French  rear-guard,  under  Ney,  was  nearly  destroyed.  The  emperor, 
however,  pressing  forward,  succeeded  in  cutting  his  way  through  the 
dense  masses  of  the  Russians.  But  from  this  time  to  the  26th  and 
27th,  when  the  French  crossed  the  Beresina,  all  was  utter  and  hopeless 
confusion;  and  in  the  passage  of  that  river,  in  the  midst  of  a  furious 
attack  from  the  Russians,  one  of  the  frail  bridges  broke  beneath  the 
weight  of  the  artillery,  baggage  and  troops,  with  which  it  was  bur- 
dened. A  vast  and  frenzied  crowd,  struggling  at  the  heads  of  the 
bridges,  trampled  upon  each  other,  while  cannon-balls  plowed  through 
the  living,  tortured  mass.  Multitudes  were  forced  into  the  stream,  and 
with  shrieks  which  pierced  through  the  thunders  of  the  battle,  sank 
beneath  the  floating  ice.  On  the  29th  the  Emperor  resumed  his 
march,  and  was  met  by  a  couvoy  of  provisions  from  Wilna. 


PETER   THE   GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 


83 


A  Scene  in  Nevski  Prospect,  near  St,  Petersburg. 


The  French  were  now  upon  the  borders  of  Poland,  and  received 
sympathy  and  aid  from  the  people.  On  the  5th  of  December,  Napo- 
leon, attended  by  a  small  Polish  escort,  set  out  in  a  sledge  for  Paris, 
leaving  Murat  to  command  in  his  stead.  On  the  18th  he  entered  his 
capital  and  the  palace  of  the  Tuilleries. 

The  Russians,  meanwhile,  pressed  hard  upon  the  retreating  French, 
until  they  reached  the  Niemen,  the  ancient  boundary  of  the  empire. 
At  Kowno,  Marshal  Ney,  with  a  handful  of  men,  held  the  enemy  at 
bay  for  four  days;  and  seizing  a  musket,  fought  like  a  common  soldier, 
until  the  last  man  had  retired  across  the  bridge ;  then  deliberately 
walking  backward,  he  fired  the  last  bullet  at  the  advancing  Russians, 
and  threw  his  gun  into  the  stream.  He  was  the  last  of  the  "  Grand 
Army"  that  left  the  Russian  territory. 

The  Emperor  Alexander,  who  had  hitherto  only  fought  on  the 
defensive,  now  resolved  in  his  turn  to  become  the  aggressor;  and, 
joining  his  army  in  Poland,  published  in  February,  1813,  the  cele- 
brated manifesto  which  served  as  a  basis  for  the  coalition  of  the  other 
powers  of  Europe  to  destroy  Napoleon  and  overturn  the  French 
empire.  The  King  of  Prussia  at  the  same  time  summoned  all  capable 
of  bearing  arms  to  battle  for  their  country ;  and,  though  he  did  not 


84  PETER    THE    GREAT  TO  NICHOLAS. 

then  designate  his  object,  his  people,  who  for  five  years  had  been 
humbled  and  degraded,  understood  him,  and,  with  unparalleled  en- 
thusiasm, thousands  poured  forth  to  their  places  of  rendezvous  from 
every  section  of  the  country.  In  vain  had  the  French,  with  the  aid 
of  their  last  reserves  and  of  troops  drawn  together  in  haste,  made 
efforts  to  remain  on  the  Pregel,  on  the  Vistula,  and  on  the  Oder.  The 
Russians  advanced  everywhere  with  superior  numbers,  and  the  French 
were  obliged  to  retire  behind  the  Elbe.  Prussia  now  declared  war 
against  France,  and  concluded  an  alliance  with  Russia.  The  confed- 
eration of  the  Rhine  was  dissolved,  and  although  Austria  yet  remained 
neutral,  the  insurrection  was  general  in  northern  Germany.  Mean- 
time, however,  much  time  was  lost  in  negotiations  with  the  King  of 
Saxony,  and  Kutusaff,  the  Russian  commander,  died  of  fever  at 
Buntzlaw,  upon  which  Alexander  appointed  "Wittgenstein  to  the  chief 
command.  On  the  18th  of  October  occurred  the  terrible  battle  of 
Leipsic,  in  which  the  French  were  overwhelmed  by  greatly  superior 
numbers.  The  allies  now  rapidly  advanced  to  the  Rhine ;  and  though 
Napoleon  continued  to  struggle  through  the  winter,  his  adversaries 
gradually  environed  him  with  half  a  million  of  men,  and  Alexander 
entered  Paris  on  the  81st  of  March,  1814. 

The  "  Holy  Alliance,"  at  Vienna  in  1815,  having  settled  the  rffairs 
of  Europe  satisfactorily,  Alexander  devoted  himself  to  the  advance- 
ment of  his  own  empire.  The  most  opposite  traits  are  found  combined 
in  the  character  of  this  sovereign.  He  was  at  once  seen  encouraging 
Bible  societies  and  the  education  of  his  people,  yet  interfering  with  the 
spread  of  political  knowledge  and  liberty  in  distant  states.  He  was  at 
times  firm  even  to  stubbornness,  at  others  vacillating;  his  character 
baffles  all  who  endeavor  to  describe  him  as  he  actually  was.  His  dis- 
position, however,  was  kind  and  generous,  his  manners  mild  and 
amiable,  and  his  moderation  generally  prevented  him  from  abusing 
his  unlimited  power.  He  made  many  judicious  alterations  in  the  gov- 
ernment ;  and,  under  the  influence  of  his  mother  and  the  Empress,  the 
levity  and  extravagance  of  the  Russian  court  were  materially  rejiressed. 

Alexander,  attended  to  the  last  by  his  wife  Elizabeth,  died  of  ery- 
sipelas in  a  small  and  humble  dwelling  near  Taganrog,  December  1, 
1825,  when  on  a  tour  of  inspection  through  the  southern  provinces  of 
his  empire,  and  was  succeeded  by  Nicholas  I.  on  the  25th  of  the  same 
mouth. 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  II. 


85 


CHAPTER  III. 

KiCHOLAS   I.  TO   ALEXANDER   11. 


Rations  being  Served  to  a  Detachment  of  Russian  Soidiers. 

Nicholas  Paulovich,  who  succeeded  Alexander,  was  born  at  St. 
Petersburg  on  the  7th  of  July,  1796.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  a  war  with  Persia  broke  out,  in  consequence  of  disputes  arising 
from  the  non-settlement  of  certain  boundaries  between  Russia  and  that 
Power.  Abbas  Mirza,  who  had  just  then  succeeded  to  the  throne  of 
Persia,  thinking  the  moment  propitious  for  attacking  Russia,  at  once 
marched  over  the  frontier,  and  advanced  as  far  as  Elizabetpol,  in 
Georgia ;  but  the  Persians  were  defeated,  and  driven  back.  War  was 
now  immediately  declared  against  them ;  and  General  Paskiewitch, 
being  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  by   the  Emperor,   passed   the 


86  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER    IL 

Araxes,  took  several  strong  fortresses,  entered  ancient  Media  with  no 
opposition,  and  forced  the  Shah  to  sue  for  peace,  compelling  him  to 
give  up  an  extensive  territory  on  the  southwestern  shore  of  the  Caspian 
Sea,  with  some  provinces  on  the  Caucasus,  besides  making  him  pay  the 
expenses  of  the  war  and  the  losses  by  the  invasion. 

The  war  with  Persia  was  scarcely  ended,  when  Eussia  engaged  in 
another — with  Turkey.  The  Porte  accused  the  Eussians  of  having 
secretly  fomented  the  insurrection  of  Greece,  of  having  openly  attacked 
and  destroyed  their  fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino,  with  having  violated 
the  treaties  of  Bucharest  and  Ackerman,  and  established  connections 
with  the  malcontents  in  every  part  of  the  Empire.  The  Eussians 
replied  by  accusing  the  Porte  of  having  excited  the  mountaineers  of 
Caucasus  to  revolt,  and  incited  them  to  embrace  Islamism ;  with  having 
violated  or  delayed  the  execution  of  all  the  treaties  in  favor  of  its 
Christian  subjects ;  and  arbitrarily  closed  the  Bosphorus  on  various 
occasions,  and  thereby  deeply  injured  the  southern  provinces  of  the 
Empire.  A  declaration  of  war  was  issued  by  the  Emperor  of  Eussia, 
and  on  the  7th  of  I^Iay,  1828,  the  Eussian  forces  passed  the  Pruth  to 
the  number  of  one  hundred  thousand,  including  persons  of  all  distinc- 
tions, attached  to  the  camp.  The  Turks  were  not  in  sufficient  force  to 
resist  such  a  crusade,  and  retired  as  the  Eussians  advanced.  In  a  short 
time  the  entire  level  of  the  country  was  overrun  ;  Jassy  and  Bucharest 
occupied ;  Galatz,  with  its  beautiful  harbor,  taken ;  and,  in  brief,  the 
entire  left  bank  of  the  Danube  was  occupied  by  the  Muscovite  troops. 

On  the  8th  of  June  the  Eussians  crossed  the  Danube,  attacked  and 
captured  several  fortresses  and  fortified  towns,  and  soon  overran  the 
whole  country  between  the  Danube  and  the  sea.  Several  engagements 
took  place  during  July  and  August,  and  the  Ottomans  withdrew  into 
their  entrenched  camp  around  Schumla.  The  Emperor  left  a  sufficient 
force  to  observe  Schumla,  directed  the  remainder  of  the  army  against 
Varna,  which  was  invested  by  both  land  and  sea,  and  after  a  desperate 
resistance,  taken  on  the  10th  of  October. 

After  the  fall  of  Varna,  the  Eussian  commander  left  sufficient  forces 
to  occupy  and  maintain  the  captured  fortresses,  and  commenced  his 
retreat  with  the  remainder  of  his  army  on  the  15th  of  October;  it  was 
conducted  with  so  much  secrecy,  that  the  Turks  for  some  days  were 
not  aware  of  what  was  going  on,  and  he  at  first  sustained  very  little 
molestation.     But  this  did  not  long  continue.     On  the  19th  the  rear 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER   IL  87 

guard  was  attacked  by  eight  thousand  Turkish  cavalry ;  but  they  kept 
their  ground,  though  at  a  very  heavy  loss.  After  this,  the  retrograde 
movement  became  eminently  disastrous.  Eye-witnesses  of  both  com- 
pared it  to  the  retreat  from  Moscow.  Caissons  and  baggage  were 
abandoned  at  every  step ;  the  stragglers  nearly  all  fell  into  the  enemy's 
hands,  by  whom  they  were  instantly  massacred;  and  the  Kussians 
experienced,  in  their  turn,  the  disasters  which  they  had  inflicted  on 
Napoleon's  army  in  1812.-  At  length  the  wearied  columns  reached 
the  Danube,  which  they  immediately  crossed,  and  spread  themselves 
in  winter  quarters  over  Wallachia.  Thus  ended  in  Europe  the  cam- 
paign of  1828,  in  which  the  Russians,  with  the  exception  of  the  occupa- 
tion of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia  (which  were  abandoned  by  the  Turks 
without  resistance)  and  the  reduction  of  Varna,  had  made  no  sensible 
progress.  Both  parties,  after  it  was  over,  found  themselves  on  the 
banks  of  the  Danube,  mutually  exhausted  by  the  most  urgent  efforts. 

The  campaign  in  Asia  during  the  same  year  was  attended  with  more 
decisive  results.  The  Russian  force  pushed  its  way  from  Caucasus  and 
Ararat  into  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  took  by  storm  the  strong  fortress  of 
Kars,  with  all  its  arms  and  ammunition.  After  this,  several  other  for- 
tresses fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Russians ;  so  that,  besides  obtaining 
possession  of  Miugrelia  and  Imeritia,  the  whole  pachalic  of  Bajazid,  as 
far  as  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  was  conquered. 

The  winter  of  1828-29  was  actively  employed  by  both  the  Russians 
and  the  Turks  in  preparing  for  the  opening  of  the  next  campaign.  On 
the  8th  of  May,  1829,  the  Russian  army  crossed  the  Danube,  in  two 
columns,  at  Hirchova  and  Kalavatsh,  immediately  below  Silistria. 
The  latter  place  was  at  once  invested  by  thirty-five  thousand  Russians, 
while  a  reserve  army  of  forty  thousand  was  stationed  in  advance 
towards  Schumla.  The  siege  of  Silistria  was  prosecuted  with  the 
utmost  vigor,  while  a  powerful  flotilla,  issuing  from  the  upper  part  of 
the  river,  cut  the  besieged  off  from  all  communication  by  water  on  the 
west.  But  the  Turks  made  a  vigorous  resistance,  and  recourse  was  of 
necessity  had  to  the  tedious  processes  of  sap  and  mine. 

During  the  investment  of  Silistria,  a  battle  was  fought,  on  the  11th 
of  June,  at  Kulewtscha,  about  midway  between  Silistria  and  Schumla, 
between  the  Russian  reserve  and  forty  thousand  Turks.  This  engage- 
ment continued  for  eight  hours,  and  finally  resulted  in  the  discomfiture 
of  the  Turks,  who  retreated  in  confusion,  and  by  a  circuitous  route 
succeeded  in  reentering  Schumla. 


88  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER   IL 

After  this  battle,  the  operations  before  Silistria  were  resumed.  The 
garrison,  however,  continued  to  hold  out  till  the  night  of  the  30th  of 
June,  when  a  great  mine  under  the  rampart  having  been  exploded, 
made  a  yawning  breach  in  it,  which,  by  the  concentric  fire  of  the  Eus- 
sian  artillery,  was  soon  rendered  practicable  for  storming.  Seeing 
further  resistance  hopeless,  the  commander  agreed  to  surrender.  The 
troops,  to  the  number  of  eight  thousand,  laid  down  their  arms,  and 
were  made  prisoners  of  war.  The  armed  inhabitants  were  allowed  to 
retire  without  their  arms,  but  none  of  them  availed  themselves  of  the 
permission. 

The  Russian  commander  now  determined  on  the  daring  step  of  pass- 
ing the  Balkan,  in  preference  to  the  alternative  of  undertaking  another 
siege  to  secure  more  effectually  his  line  of  communication.  His  plan 
being  formed  accordingly,  he  invested  Schumla  with  ten  thousand  men 
under  Krasowsky.  Reschid  Pacha,  the  Grand  Vizier,  in  expectation 
of  an  immediate  assault,  recalled  a  portion  of  his  troops  from  the 
mountain  passes,  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  a  position  on  which,  in  his 
opinion,  everything  depended.  The  defenders  of  the  Balkan  being 
thus  seriously  diminished,  the  Russian  forces  were  enabled  to  force  their 
passage  across  the  mountains.  The  figurative  comparison  of  the  num- 
ber of  the  Russian  army  to  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  Avhich  had  been  spread 
by  the  Bulgarians,  acted  like  magic.  The  Turkish  army,  deceived  by 
these  exaggerated  accounts,  retired  to  the  ridge  of  low  hills,  twenty-five 
miles  in  front  of  Constantinople,  which  had  so  c^'ten  in  ancient  times  served 
as  a  barrier  against  the  northern  barbarians.  The  Russian  general 
thus  having  an  unobstructed  route,  resolved  on  pushing  on  to  Adria- 
nople.  Leaving  a  force  at  different  points  to  secure  his  line  of  commu- 
nications, he  advanced  by  forced  marches,  and  encamped  before  that 
ancient  city  on  the  19th  of  August.  Ko  preparations  for  the  defence 
of  Adrianople  had  been  made,  and  a  hasty  capitulation  enabled  the 
Russians  to  enter  the  town  on  the  following  morning. 

The  better  to  subsist,  and  also  to  augment  the  report  of  the  magnitude 
and  invincibility  of  his  forces,  the  Russian  general  spread  them  out 
from  the  centre  at  Adrianople,  like  a  fan,  in  every  direction.  While 
the  advanced  guards  were  pushed  on  the  high-road  to  within  eighty 
miles  of  Constantinople,  the  left  wing  advanced  and  took  Midiah, 
within  sixty-five  miles  of  the  Bosphorus,  where  it  entered  into  commu- 
nication with  Admiral  Greig's  squadron ;  and  the  right  moved  forward 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  II. 


Soldiers  ok  the  Line  after  their  Uniforms. 


by  Trajanopolis  on  Enos,  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  met  the  fleet  of 
Admiral  Heiden,  which  was  at  anchor,  expecting  them,  in  the  bay. 
At  the  same  time,  Krasowsky,  by  repeated  attacks,  so  imposed  upon 
the  garrison  at  Schumla,  that,  so  far  from  thinking  of  disquieting  these 
movements,  they  deemed  themselves  fortunate  to  be  able  to  preserve 
their  own  redoubts.  Thus  the  Russian  army  extended  from  the  Euxine 
to  the  Mediterranean,  across  the  entire  breadth  of  Turkey,  and  was 
supported  by  a  powerful  fleet  at  the  extremity  of  either  flank  ;  while 
at  the  same  time  its  reserve  blockaded  eighteen  thousand  men  in 
Schumla,  and  its  advanced  guard  menaced  Constantinople.  But  the 
strength  of  their  army  was  not  equal  to  so  great  an  expansion  of  its 
force,  and  was  in  reality  on  the  verge  of  a  most  terrible  catastrophe. 
In  the  middle  of  September  the  Russian  force  at  Adrianople  did  not 
exceed  fifteen  thousand  men. 

An  extraordinary  impression  was  produced  by  these  decisive  events, 
both  at  Constantinople  and  over  Europe.  The  terror  in  the  Turkish 
capital  was  extreme;  and  the  grand  seignior,  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
agreed  to  the  treaty  of  Adrianople,  one  of  the  most  renewed  in  the 
Russian  as  it  was  one  of  the  most  disastrous  in  the  Turkish  annals. 

By  this  celebrated  treaty  the  Emperor  of  Russia  restored  to  the 


90  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 

Sublime  Porte  the  two  principalities  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  and 
all  the  conquered  places  in  Bulgaria  and  Roumauia,  with  the  exception 
of  the  islands  at  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  which  were  reserved  to 
Eussia.  All  the  conquests  in  Asia  Minor  were  in  like  manner  restored 
to  Turkey,  excepting  the  fortress  of  Anapa,  Poli,  Akhalzikh,  Abzkow, 
and  Akhalkalaki,  which,  with  a  considerable  territory  around  them, 
were  ceded  to  Russia,  and,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  constituted  most 
important  acquisitions.  All  the  privileges  and  immunities  secured  by 
former  treaties  were  ratified  in  their  fullest  extent.  An  entire  and 
unqualified  amnesty  was  provided  for  all  political  ofienders  in  every 
part  of  the  Turkish  dominions.  The  passage  of  the  Dardanelles  waa 
declared  open  to  all  Russian  merchant  vessels,  as  well  as  those  of  nations 
at  peace  with  the  Sublime  Porte,  with  all  guarantees  requisite  to  secure 
to  Russia  the  undisturbed  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea. 

Another  convention,  signed  the  same  day,  determined  the  respective 
rights  of  the  parties  to  Wallachia  and  Moldavia.  It  provided  that  the 
hospodars  of  these  provinces  should  be  elected  for  life,  and  not,  as  here- 
tofore, for  seven  years ;  that  the  pachas  and  ofiicers  of  the  Porte  in  the 
adjoining  provinces  were  not  at  liberty  to  intermingle  in  any  respect  in 
their  concerns ;  that  the  middle  of  the  Danube  was  to  be  the  boundary 
between  them  to  the  junction  of  that  river  with  the  Pruth ;  and  "the 
better  to  secure  the  future  inviolability  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia, 
the  Sublime  Porte  engaged  not  to  maintain  any  fortified  post  or  any 
Mussulman  establishment  on  the  north  of  the  Danube ;  that  the  towns 
situated  on  the  left  bank  should  be  restored  to  Wallachia,  and  their 
fortifications  never  repaired  ;  and  all  Mussulmans  holding  possessions 
on  the  left  bank  were  to  be  bound  to  sell  them  to  the  natives  in  the 
space  of  eighteen  months.  The  government  of  the  hospodars  was  to  be 
entirely  independent  of  Turkey ;  and  they  were  to  be  liberated  from  the 
quota  of  provisions  they  had  hitherto  been  bound  to  furnish  to  Con- 
stantinople and  the  fortresses  on  the  Danube." 

The  Polish  revolution  is  the  next  important  event  in  the  history  of 
Russia.  Although  the  immediate  cause  of  this  revolution  was  severe 
punishment  inflicted  on  pupils  of  the  military  academy  at  Warsaw, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Poles  were  encouraged  to  make  the  attempt 
by  the  success  that  attended  the  Parisians  in  July,  1880,  to  secure  to 
themselves  a  constitutional  government.  Accordingly,  on  the  19th  of 
Kovember  following,  the  military  cadets  and  students  of  Warsaw, 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 


91 


Friends  of  the  Servian  Cause  making  Contributions. 


joined  by  the  Polish  troops,  seized  the  arsenal  with  forty  thousand 
stand  of  arms,  and  the  insurrection  became  general.  On  the  next 
morning  forty  thousand  troops  and  citizens  were  in  arms,  and  the 
Russians  were  expelled  from  the  capital.  January  24, 1831,  the  Polish 
Diet,  which  had  been  opened  on  the  18th  of  December,  declared  the 
absolute  independence  of  Poland,  and  the  termination  of  the  Russian 
dominion ;  and  on  the  25th,  that  the  Polish  throne  was  vacant.  The 
object  of  the  Polish  revolutionists,  however,  was  not  to  withdraw  them- 
selves entirely  from  the  authority  of  the  Russian  emperor,  but  only  to 
maintain  the  privileges  that  were  guaranteed  to  them  at  the  Congress 
of  Vienna  in  1815,  and  to  get  rid  of  the  tyrannous  viceroyship  of  the 
Grand  Duke  Constantine.  Nevertheless,  they  had  now  drawn  the 
sword,  and  although  two  commissioners  were  sent  to  St.  Petersburg  to 
endeavor  to  effect  an  arrangement,  the  Emperor  refused  to  listen  to 


92  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 

tliem,  and  denounced  tlie  revolted  Poles  as  traitors  to  whom  no  lenity 
would  be  shown. 

Marshal  Diebitch,  who  had  successfully  conducted  the  war  with  the 
Turks,  entered  Poland  at  the  head  of  a  large  army.  He  advanced  as 
far  as  Warsaw,  and  was  victorious  over  the  Poles  near  the  walls  of  their 
capital,  February  25,  1831 ;  but  with  a  change  of  commanders  the 
Polish  cause  gained  strength.  On  the  31st  of  March  they  were  victo- 
rious over  the  Russians  in  a  night  attack  at  Dembe  "VVielski.  Another 
important  victory  was  afterwards  gained  near  Zelechow.  During  this 
action  the  Lithuanians  and  Valhynians,  who  served  in  the  Russian 
army,  turned  their  arms  against  the  Russians,  and  materially  contrib- 
uted to  tiie  success  of  the  Poles. 

The  peasants  in  various  quarters  of  Poland  now  took  an  active  part 
in  the  war,  and  hastened,  with  whatever  weapons  they  could  obtain,  to 
the  army.  Insurrections  broke  out  in  Lithuania,  Valhynia,  Kowno, 
Wilna,  in  the  Ukraine,  and  even  in  ancient  Poland  as  far  as  Smolensk. 
On  the  other  hand.  General  Dwernicki,  who  had  been  sent  to  make  a 
demonstration  in  the  rear  of  the  Russians,  and  who  had  been  victo- 
rious over  them,  was  at  last  compelled  to  pass  into  the  Austrian  domin- 
ions, Avhere  he  surrendered  to  the  authorities  of  that  country,  April  27, 
with  five  thousand  Poles.  The  ardor  of  the  people,  however,  still  con- 
tinued, and  hopes  were  entertained  in  every  country  that  the  manly 
resistance  of  the  Poles  would  induce  other  governments  to  interfere ; 
but,  unfortunately,  Prussia  and  Austria,  being  themselves  in  possession 
of  a  part  of  the  spoils  of  Poland,  did  all  in  their  power  to  prevent 
interference  for  fear  of  popular  risings  in  Posen  and  Salicia,  while 
France  was  too  timid  and  cautious,  and  Great  Britain  was  too  much 
absorbed  with  domestic  politics  and  the  spirit  of  trade  to  render  essen- 
tial aid.  The  military  operations  on  the  part  of  the  Russians  Avere 
now  prosecuted  with  new  vigor ;  and  the  Emperor,  who,  in  a  manifesto 
addressed  to  the  Russians,  had  called  them  the  legitimate  masters  of 
the  Poles,  was  ready  to  make  every  sacrifice  to  regain  the  Polish 
throne. 

The  fate  of  the  revolutionists  was  soon  afterward  decided.  After 
two  days'  fighting,  Warsaw  was  taken  by  the  Russians  (September  7, 
1831),  and  the  confiscation  of  their  property  and  exile  to  Siberia  fol- 
lowed. Though  many  found  an  asylum  in  France,  England,  and  other 
countries,  they  were  mostly  in  extreme  poverty,  and  were  dependent 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL  93 

on  the  benevolence  of  those  who  pitied  their  hard  fate  while  they 
admired  their  patriotism.  An  imperial  ukase,  issued  March  17,  1832, 
abolished  the  kingdom  of  Poland  and  its  constitution,  and  incorporated 
it  with  Russia  as  a  province.  The  University  of  Warsaw  was  also 
suppressed  as  a  punishment  for  the  part  taken  by  the  students  in  the 
insurrection. 

From  this  period  until  1849  no  important  act  marked  the  influence 
of  Russia  in  the  world's  affairs.  An  occasion  soon  presented  itself  in 
which  the  Muscovite  Czar  was  called  upon  to  employ  a  portion  of  his 
troops  in  support  of  the  "  divine  right  of  kings."  On  the  appeal  of 
the  young  Emperor  of  Austria,  Francis  Joseph,  for  aid  against  the 
armies  of  Kossuth,  Nicholas  sent  his  Cossacks  into  Hungary,  who,  with 
overwhelming  numbers,  finally  vanquished  the  valiant  Maygars.  The 
chief  reason  given  by  the  Czar  for  his  intervention  in  this  contest  was 
the  danger  to  which  the  Russian  dominions  must  themselves  be  exposed 
from  the  triumph  of  the  Maygars,  with  the  large  number  of  Polish 
refugees  said  to  be  engaged  in  their  forces.  Another  motive  was,  how- 
ever, also  assigned,  namely,  the  mission  of  Russia  to  restore  religious 
and  political  orthodoxy  to  the  bewildered  and  disorganized  nations  of 
Europe.  The  Russian  forces  were  put  in  motion  simultaneously  with 
the  ukase  of  the  Czar,  which  was  dated  April  26,  1849.  One  corps 
passed  through  Moravia  by  the  northern  railway,  and  entered  Hungary 
northwest  of  Presburg ;  two  other  corps  entered  the  country  through 
the  northwestern  defiles  of  the  Carpathians ;  the  main  body  came 
through  the  central  pass  of  the  same  range,  and  marched  down  on  the 
main  road  toward  Pesth.  Transylvania  was  invaded  on  the  southeast, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  Russian  corps  came  into  that  province  on  the 
northeast.  The  Austrian  armies  were  also  recruited ;  and  the  entire 
force  thus  marshalled  against  this  heroic  nation  scarcely  fell  short  of 
three  hundred  thousand  men. 

The  popular  enthusiasm  was  roused  to  an  extraordinary  pitch  by  the 
crisis.  Governor  Kossuth  and  his  friends  traversed  every  part  of  the 
country  as  apostles  of  the  crusade  for  liberty,  and  the  clergy  of  all 
denominations  vied  with  each  other  in  zeal  against  the  invaders.  The 
contest,  however,  was  prolonged  for  some  three  months  only  after  the 
entry  of  the  Russians,  and  was  virtually  ended  on  the  13th  of  August 
at  Villagos  by  the  treacherous  surrender  of  the  Hungarian  Gorgey, 
with  his  entire  army,  to  the  Russian  commander.     This  was  followed 


94  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 

by  the  surrender  of  all  the  strongholds  in  the  hands  of  the  Hunga- 
rians. Kossuth  and  other  eminent  officers,  with  some  five  thousand 
troops,  found  an  asylum  in  Turkey. 

These  events  bring  us  down  to  the  period  of  the  Crimean  War.  The 
relations  between  Russia  and  the  Ottoman  Porte  had  been  for  some 
years  assuming  a  threatening  aspect.  Among  the  disturbing  elements 
was  the  question  of  the  *"  holy  places "  in  Jerusalem,  where  certain 
privileges  had  been  granted  by  the  Turkish  Government  to  Roman 
Catholics,  at  the  cost,  as  the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg  believed,  of  the 
Orthodox  Greek  Church.  A  conflict  between  the  Montenegrins  and 
the  Turks,  at  the  beginning  of  1853,  increased  the  difficulty,  as  the 
hardy  mountaineers  of  Montenegro  had  for  some  time  enjoyed  the 
special  protection  of  Russia.  Several  other  events  of  inferior  import- 
ance thickened  the  cloud ;  and  finally  it  was  decided  by  Nicholas  to 
make  an  imposing  demonstration  at  Constantinople. 

In  February,  1853,  Prince  Menchikoff  left  St.  Petersburg  on  a  mis- 
sion to  Stamboul.  He  reached  his  destination  on  the  28th,  and  on  the 
2d  of  March  communicated  to  the  Porte  his  credentials.  The  other 
Courts  of  Europe,  and  especially  France,  became  uneasy  at  the  demon- 
strations of  Russia,  and  a  French  fleet  appeared  at  about  the  end  of 
the  month  in  the  waters  of  Greece. 

The  first  point  debated  between  the  Russian  embassador  and  the 
Porte  was  that  of  the  holy  places  in  Palestine.  After  many  circumlo- 
cutions, Prince  Menchikoff  laid  down  his  uUimatmn.  This  contained 
sundry  claims  never  before  preferred  by  Russia,  as  that  the  Porte 
should  bind  itself  for  the  future  never  to  encroach  upon  any  immuni- 
ties anciently  enjoyed  by  the  Greek  Church  in  Turkey,  nor  ever  to 
allow  any  other  Christian  creed  to  predominate  over  it.  The  Porte 
refused  to  make  such  a  treaty.  On  the  18th  of  May  the  Russian  envoy 
broke  off  all  further  communications  with  the  Porte,  and  retired  to  a 
steamer  waiting  for  him  in  the  harbor,  and  left  Constantinople  on  the 
21st  of  May. 

Russia  now  began  to  gather  bodies  of  troops  about  Odessa  and  in 
Bessarabia.  Turkey  also  began  to  arm.  On  the  25th  of  June  the 
Czar  issued  a  manifesto  to  his  people,  announcing  his  purpose  to  sustain 
the  religious  rights  of  the  Eastern  Church,  which  he  said  were  endan- 
gered in  Turkey.  The  Russian  troops  accordingly  crossed  the  Pruth, 
and  entered  the  Danubian  principalities.     France  and  England  seemed 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 


95 


Russian  Soldiers  being  Reviewed  by  the  Czar. 

more  united  at  this  juncture.  Austria  and  Prussia  remained  neutral, 
and  the  first  offered  her  friendly  mediation.  Conferences  were  opened 
at  Constantinople  and  at  Vienna  between  the  ministers  of  the  four 
courts,  and  on  the  1st  of  August  a  note  was  sent  from  Vienna  to  St. 
Petersburg  and  Constantinople  offering  terms  of  pacification.  The 
Czar  accepted  them,  but  the  Sultan  introduced  some  changes  and  modi- 
fications, which  were  disapproved  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  destroyed  the 
first  conciliatory  attempts  at  diplomacy.  Russia  having  taken  posses- 
sion of  Jassy  and  Bucharest,  the  capitals  of  the  principalities,  Prince 
Gortchakofij  the  Russian  Commander-in-Chief,  suspended  all  legal  rela- 
tions between  the  two  vassals  of  the  Porte  and  their  sovereign. 

Turkey,  in  the  meantime,  concentrated  her  army  along  the  Danube 
in  Europe,  and  on  the  frontiers  of  Georgia  in  Asia ;  and  in  October 
the  Sultan  issued  a  declaration  of  war.  Omar  Pasha,  the  commander 
of  the  Turkish  forces  in  Europe,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Russian  com- 
mander, requiring  him  to  evacuate  the  principalities  within  two  weeks ; 
otherwise  he  would  proceed  to  attack  the  Russian  army.     Gortchakoff 


96  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 

replied  that  he  was  under  the  imperial  commands  to  maintain  his  posi- 
tion. Omar  kept  his  word.  In  the  latter  part  of  October  he  crossed 
the  Danube  at  several  points.  The  Ottomans  seized  the  island  of  Kala- 
vatsh,  as  well  as  the  strong  point  of  Oltenitza  on  the  left  side  of  the 
river.  In  Asia  they  seized  Nicolaiev  and  several  other  fortified  places ; 
and  fought  a  battle  at  Batrum,  in  which  both  parties  claimed  a  victory. 

On  the  water,  the  Ottoman  cause  suffered  a  great  disaster.  On  the 
30th  of  November,  a  Turkish  fleet,  conveying  warlike  stores  to  the 
Asiatic  coast,  entered  the  harbor  of  Sinope,  where  they  were  attacked  by 
a  Russian  squadron.  After  a  contest  of  about  three  hours,  the  Turkish 
vessels  were  destroyed.  The  guns  of  the  Russian  squadron  were  then 
turned  upon  the  town  of  Sinope,  which  they  reduced  to  ashes. 

The  intelligence  of  this  affair  created  great  excitement,  not  only  at 
Constantinople,  but  in  Paris  and  London.  The  allied  fleets  were  im- 
mediately ordered  to  enter  the  Black  Sea  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
protection  to  the  Porte. 

On  the  Danube  fresh  engagements  took  place,  which  resulted  favor- 
ably for  the  Turks.  On  the  6th  of  January,  1854,  they  attacked  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  Russian  army  near  Citale,  and  followed  up  the 
advantage  there  gained  for  three  days  in  succession,  finally  routing 
their  adversaries  entirely,  and  driving  them  back  upon  Krajova.  The 
Turks  then  retired  to  Kalavatsh. 

War  was  now  fairly  enkindled  between  Russia  and  the  Porte.  The 
Emperor  Nicholas  calculated  on  the  subserviency  of  Germany,  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  France,  and  the  connivance  of  England,  to  which  he 
offered  Egypt  as  her  share  of  "the  sick  man's"  inheritance,  for  the 
success  of  his  plans.  But  England  was  not  ambitious  of  further  acqui- 
sitions ;  Turkey  claimed  her  assistance  on  the  faith  of  treaties ;  and 
France,  now  under  the  absolute  sway  of  Napoleon  III.,  united  with 
Great  Britain  to  crush  out  the  designs  of  Russia.  Austria  and  Prussia 
stood  aloof;  but  a  combined  English  and  French  fleet  proceeded  to  the 
Black  Sea,  and  shut  up  the  Russians  in  the  harbor  of  Sebastopol. 

Negotiations  with  Russia  were  continued  during  the  winter,  but, 
having  failed,  war  was  declared  against  her  by  England  and  France 
in  the  spring,  when  a  French  army  under  INIarshal  St.  Arnaud,  and  an 
English  one  under  Lord  Raglan,  assembled  at  Varna  in  Turkey,  while 
an  English  fleet  under  Sir  Charles  Napier  was  despatched  to  the  Baltic. 
The  gallant  defence  of  the  Turks  on  the  banks  of  the  Danube  having 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  //.  97 


An  Ambulanxe  Traln  in  Servia  Attacked  by  Wolves. 

dissipated  all  alarm  in  that  quarter,  it  was  determined,  toward  the  end 
of  summer,  to  transport  the  allied  army  from  Varna  to  the  Crimea, 
and  to  attack  Sebastopol.  They  were  landed  without  opposition,  Sep- 
tember 14th,  at  Eupatoria,  on  the  west  coast  of  the  Crimea.  Prince 
!Menchikoff,  who  had  command  of  Sebastopol,  had  posted  a  force  of 
about  sixty  thousand  men  on  the  heights  which  crown  the  left  bank  of 
the  little  river  Alma,  in  order  to  oppose  their  advance  on  that  fortress, 
and  he  had  fortified  this  naturally  strong  position  with  great  care,  so 
that  he  confidently  reckoned  on  holding  it  at  least  three  weeks ;  but  it 
was  carried  after  a  few  hours'  fight,  on  September  20th,  by  the  allied 
armies,  though  with  considerable  loss.  The  Russians  flung  away  their 
arms  and  fled  ;  many  of  their  guns  were  captured,  together  with  ^Nlen- 
chikoff's  carriage  and  despatches,  and  nothing  saved  their  army  from 
annihilation  but  the  want  of  cavalry  to  pursue  it.  It  is  probable  that, 
had  the  allies  been  in  a  condition  to  move  forward  immediately,  they 
might  have  entered  Sebastopol  along  with  the  flying  enemy ;  but  the 
care  of  the  wounded  and  the  burial  of  the  dead  occasioned  some  delay. 
The  march  was  then  directed  toward  the  harbor  of  Balaklava,  the 
ancient  Portus  Symbolon  to  the  south  of  Sebastopol,  which  enabled 
7 


98  NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL 

the  army  to  derive  its  supplies  from  the  sea.  The  southern  heights  of 
Sebastopol  were  occupied,  and  preparations  made  for  a  siege.  This 
was  rendered  difficult  by  the  rocky  nature  of  the  soil,  and  it  was  not 
till  October  17th  that  the  allies  were  able  to  open  their  fire  upon  the 
place.  The  Russians  had  availed  themselves  of  the  interval  to  fortify 
it  with  great  skill,  and  the  large  fleet  shut  up  in  the  harbor  assisted 
them  with  the  means  of  defence. 

This  siege  lasted  nearly  a  year,  and  became  one  of  the  most  memo- 
rable in  history.  Soon  after  its  commencement  a  Russian  army  of 
80,000  men,  under  Liprandi,  endeavored  to  raise  it  by  an  attack  upon 
Balaklava  (October  25th),  but  which,  after  a  severe  struggle,  was 
repulsed. 

On  November  5th,  the  Russians  having  been  reinforced,  made  an 
assault  upon  the  British  position  at  Inkermann.  Advancing  early  in 
the  morning  under  cover  of  a  fog,  they  took  the  garrison  by  surprise ; 
but  the  British  held  their  ground  till  General  Canrobert,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  command  of  the  French  army  after  the  death  of  St. 
Arnaud,  sent  a  division  to  their  assistance.  The  Russians  were  now 
hurled  down  the  heights,  while  the  artillery  made  terrible  havoc  in 
their  serried  ranks.  After  this  catastrophe  the  Russians  were  cautious 
of  venturing  another  battle;  but  the  defence  of  the  town  was  con- 
ducted with  skill  and  obstinacy,  and  many  desperate  sorties  took 
place.  Attempts  were  made  by  the  fleet  upon  the  seaward  batteries, 
but  they  were  found  to  be  impregnable. 

It  was  thought  that  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas,  which 
occurred  somewhat  suddenly,  might  have  led  to  the  ree.stablishment 
of  peace;  but  the  war  was  continued  under  his  son  and  successor, 
Alexander.  Its  interest  Avas  principally  concentrated  at  Sebastopol. 
The  Baltic  fleet,  under  Admiral  Napier,  though  reinforced  by  a  French 
squadron,  had  eficcted  nothing  except  the  destruction  of  the  fortress 
of  Bomarsuud  in  the  Aland  Islands.  The  Black  Sea  fleet  was  more 
successful.  A  squadron,  under  Lyons,  proceeded  into  the  Sea  of  Azov, 
captured  Kertch,  Yenikale,  and  other  towns,  destroying  vast  granaries 
from  which  the  Russians  chiefly  derived  their  supplies,  thus  hastening 
the  surrender  of  Scl)astopol. 

On  the  5th  of  September  the  general  and  final  bombardment  took 
place.  On  the  8th  an  assault  was  deemed  practicable,  and  the  French 
effected  a  lodgment  in  the  fort  or  tower  called  the  Malakoff.     The 


NICHOLAS  I.    TO  ALEXANDER  IL  99 

English  storming-party  also  succeeded  in  gaining  possession  of  the  fort 
called  the  Redan,  but  were  obliged  ultimately  to  retire.  The  posses- 
sion of  the  MalakofF,  however,  which  commanded  the  town,  decided  its 
fate,  and  in  the  course  of  the  night  the  Russians  evacuated  the  place. 

The  allied  armies  established  their  winter  quarters  amid  the  ruins 
of  Sebastopol,  and,  had  the  war  proceeded,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  whole  of  the  Crimea  would  have  fallen  into  their  hands  ;  but 
negotiations  for  peace,  begun  under  the  mediation  of  Austria,  were 
brought  to  a  conclusion  in  January,  1856.  The  Russian  Protectorate 
in  the  Danubian  principalities  was  abolished ;  the  freedom  of  the 
Danube  and  its  mouths  was  established ;  both  Russian  and  Turkish 
ships  of  war  were  banished  from  the  Black  Sea,  except  a  few  small 
vessels  necessary  as  a  maritime  police ;  and  the  Christian  subjects  of 
the  Porte  were  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  contracting  powers. 
On  these  bases  a  definitive  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  with  Russia  at 
Paris,  March  30,  1856. 

The  most  creditable  act  of  the  present  Czar  was  the  emancipation  of 
the  serfs— an  act  which  he  performed  in  1861  in  the  face  of  the  most 
intense  opposition.  To  him  thirty  millions  of  people  owe  their  deliver- 
ance from  a  servitude  which  they  had  suffered  for  two  and  a  half 
centuries. 

Czar  Alexander  II.  has  during  his  administration  displayed  most 
commendable  courage  and  persistency  in  carrying  out  great  reforms. 
He  has  encouraged  the  advancement  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  fostered 
the  building  of  railway  and  telegraph  lines  in  his  dominions,  and  has 
steadily  kept  in  view  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  his  people.  With- 
out granting  absolute  civil  and  religious  liberty,  he  has  yet  abolished 
many  of  the  restrictions  which  existed  during  his  father's  reign. 

The  recent  events  which  have  precipitated  the  present  war  will  be 
fully  detailed  in  their  appropriate  place. 


100  THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 

If  it  -were  possible  to  get  a  bird's-eye  view  of  European  Eussia,  the 
spectator  would  perceive  that  the  country  is  composed  of  two  halves, 
widely  differing  from  each  other  in  character.  The  northern  half  is  a 
land  of  forest  and  morass,  plentifully  supplied  with  water  in  the  form 
of  rivers,  lakes,  and  marshes,  and  broken  up  by  numerous  patches  of 
cultivation.  The  southern  half  is,  as  it  were,  the  other  side  of  the 
pattern— an  immense  expanse  of  rich  arable  land,  broken  up  by  occa- 
sional patches  of  sand  or  forest.  The  imaginary  undulating  line  sepa- 
rating those  two  regions  starts  from  the  western  frontier  about  the 
fiftieth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  runs  in  a  northeasterly  direction  till  it 
enters  the  Ural  range  at  about  fifty-six  degrees  north  latitude. 

In  the  present  chapter  we  shall  endeavor  to  give  a  brief  description 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  half  of  the  countiy. 

Nearly  the  whole  of  the  female  population,  and  about  one-half  of 
the  male  inhabitants,  are  habitually  engaged  in  cultivating  the  Com- 
munal land.  The  arable  part  of  this  land  is  divided  in  each  village 
into  three  large  fields,  each  of  which  is  cut  up  into  long  narrow  strips. 
The  first  field  is  reserved  for  the  winter  grain — that  is  to  say,  rye, 
which  forms,  in  the  shape  of  black  bread,  the  principal  food  of  the 
j)easantry.  In  the  second  are  raised  oats  for  tlie  horses,  and  buck- 
wheat, which  is  largely  used  for  food.  The  third  lies  fallow,  and  is 
used  in  the  summer  as  pasturage  for  the  cattle. 

All  the  villagers  divide  the  arable  land  in  this  way,  in  order  to  suit 
the  triennial  rotation  of  crops.  This  triennial  system  is  extremely 
simple.  The  field  which  is  used  this  year  for  raising  winter  grain  will  be 
used  next  year  for  raising  summer  grain,  and  in  the  following  year  will 
lie  fallow.  Before  being  sown  with  winter  grain  it  ought  to  receive  a 
certain  amount  of  manure.  Every  family  possesses  in  each  of  the  two 
fields  under  cultivation  one  or  more  of  the  long,  narrow  strips  or  belts 
into  which  they  are  divided. 

The  annual  life  of  the  peasantry  is  that  of  simple  husbandmen,  in- 
habiting a  country  where  the  winter  is  long  and  severe.     The  agricul- 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 


101 


"'^ii 


102  THE  RUSSIAN-  PEASANTRY. 

tural  year  begins  in  Ajiril  "with  the  melting  of  the  snow.  Kature  has 
been  lying  dormant  for  some  months.  Awaking  now  from  her  long 
sleep,  and  throwing  off  her  white  mantle,  she  strives  to  make  up  for 
lost  time.  No  sooner  has  the  snow  disappeared  than  the  fresh  young 
grass  begins  to  shoot  up,  and  very  soon  afterwards  the  shrubs  and 
trees  begin  to  bud.  The  rapidity  of  this  transition  from  winter  to 
spring  astonishes  the  inhabitants  of  more  temperate  climes. 

On  St.  George's  Day  (April  23d),  the  cattle  are  brought  out  for  the 
first  time  and  sprinkled  with  holy  water  by  the  priest.  The  cattle  of 
the  Russian  peasantry  are  never  very  fat,  but  at  this  period  of  the 
year  their  appearance  is  truly  lamentable.  During  the  winter  they 
have  been  cooped  up  in  small  unventilated  cow-houses,  and  fed  almost 
exclusively  on  straw  ;  now,  when  they  are  released  from  their  imprison- 
ment, they  look  like  the  ghosts  of  their  former  emaciated  selves.  All 
are  lean  and  weak,  many  are  lame,  and  some  cannot  rise  to  their  feet 
without  assistance. 

Meanwhile  the  peasants  are  impatient  to  begin  the  field  labor.  An 
old  proverb  which  they  all  know  says :  "  Sow  in  mud  and  you  will  be 
a  prince;"  and  they  always  act  in  accordance  with  this  dictate  of 
traditional  wisdom.  As  soon  as  it  is  possible  to  plow  they  begin  to 
prepare  the  land  for  the  summer  grain,  and  this  labor  occupies  them 
probably  till  the  end  of  May.  Then  comes  the  work  of  carting  out 
manure  and  preparing  the  fallow  field  for  the  winter  grain,  which  will 
last  probably  till  about  St.  Peter's  Day  (June  29th),  when  the  hay- 
making generally  begins.  After  the  hay -making  comes  the  harvest, 
by  far  the  busiest  time  of  the  year.  From  the  middle  of  July  until 
the  end  of  August,  the  peasant  may  work  day  and  night,  and  yet  he 
will  find  that  he  has  barely  time  to  get  all  his  work  done.  In  little 
more  than  a  month  he  has  to  reap  and  stack  his  grain — rye,  oats,  and 
whatever  else  he  may  have  sown  either  in  spring  or  in  the  preceding 
autumn — and  to  sow  the  winter  grain  for  next  year.  To  add  to  his 
troubles,  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  rye  and  the  oats  ripen  almost 
simultaneously,  and  his  position  is  then  still  more  diflficult  than  usual. 

Whether  the  seasons  favor  him  or  not,  the  peasant  has  at  this  time 
a  hard  task,  for  he  can  rarely  afford  to  hire  the  requisite  number  of 
laborers,  and  has  generally  the  assistance  merely  of  his  wife  and  family ; 
but  he  can  at  this  season  work  for  a  short  time  at  high  pressure,  for  he 
has  the  prospect  of  soon  obtaining  a  good  rest  and  an  abundance  of 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY.  103 

food.  About  the  end  of  September  the  field  labor  is  finished,  and  on 
the  first  day  of  October  the  harvest  festival  begins — a  joyous  season, 
during  which  the  parish  fetes  are  commonly  celebrated. 

To  celebrate  a  parish  fete  in  true  orthodox  fashion  it  is  necessary  to 
prepare  beforehand  a  large  quantity  of  hraga — a  kind  of  home-brewed 
small  beer — and  to  bake  a  plentiful  supply  of  piroghi  or  pies.  Oil, 
too,  has  to  be  procured,  and  vodka  (rye  spirit)  in  goodly  quantity.  At 
the  same  time  the  big  room  of  the  izba,  as  the  peasant's  house  is  called, 
has  to  be  cleared,  the  floor  washed,  and  the  table  and  benches  scrubbed. 
The  evening  before  the  fete,  while  the  piroghi  are  being  baked,  a  little 
lamp  burns  before  the  Icon  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  and  perhaps  one 
or  two  guests  from  a  distance  arrive  in  order  that  they  may  have  on 
the  morrow  a  full  day's  enjoyment. 

On  the  morning  of  the  fete  the  proceedings  begin  by  a  long  service 
in  the  church,  at  which  all  the  inhabitants  are  present  in  their  best 
holiday  costumes,  except  those  matrons  and  young  women  who  remain 
at  home  to  prepare  the  dinner.  About  mid-day  dinner  is  served  in 
each  izba  for  the  family  and  their  friends.  In  general  the  Kussian 
peasant's  fare  is  of  the  simplest  kind,  and  rarely  comprises  animal  food 
of  any  sort — not  from  any  vegetarian  proclivities,  but  merely  because 
beef,  mutton,  and  pork  are  too  expensive ;  but  on  a  holiday,  such  as  a 
parish  fete,  there  is  always  on  the  dinner-table  a  considerable  variety 
of  dishes.  In  the  house  of  a  well-to-do  peasant  there  will  be  not  only 
greasy  cabbage-soup  and  kasha — a  dish  made  from  buckwheat — but 
also  pork,  mutton,  and  perhaps  even  beef  Braga  will  be  supplied 
in  unlimited  quantities,  and  more  than  once  vodka  will  be  handed 
round.  When  the  repast  is  finished,  all  rise  together,  and  turning 
towards  the  Icon  in  the  corner,  bow  and  cross  themselves  repeatedly. 
The  guests  then  say  to  their  host,  "  Spazibo  za  klileb  za  sol" — that  is  to 
say,  "  Thanks  for  your  hospitality,"  or  more  literally,  "  Thanks  for 
bread  and  salt ;"  and  the  host  replies,  "  Do  not  be  displeased,  sit  down 
once  more  for  good  luck" — or  perhaps  he  puts  the  last  part  of  his 
request  in  the  form  of  a  rhyming  couplet  to  the  following  effect :  "  Sit 
down,  that  the  hens  may  brood,  and  that  the  chickens  and  bees  may 
multiply !"  All  obey  this  request,  and  there  is  another  round  of 
vodka. 

After  dinner  some  stroll  about,  chatting  with  their  friends,  or  go  to 
sleep  in  some  shady  nook,  whilst  those  who  wish  to  make  merry  go  to 


104  THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 

the  spot  where  the  young  people  are  singing,  phiying,  and  amusing 
themselves  in  various  ways.  As  the  sun  sinks  towards  the  horizon,  the 
more  grave,  staid  guests  wend  their  way  homewards,  but  many  remain 
for  supper ;  and  as  evening  advances  the  effect  of  the  vodka  becomes 
more  and  more  apparent.  Sounds  of  revelry  are  heard  more  frequently 
from  the  houses,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  and  guests 
appear  on  the  road  in  various  degrees  of  intoxication.  Some  of  these 
vow  eternal  affection  to  their  friends,  or  with  flaccid  gestures  and  in 
incoherent  tones  harangue  invisible  audiences;  others  stagger  about 
aimlessly  in  besotted  self-contentment,  till  they  drop  down  in  a  state 
of  complete  unconsciousness.  There  they  will  lie  tranquilly  till  they 
are  picked  up  by  their  less  intoxicated  friends,  or  more  probably  till 
they  awake  of  their  own  accord  on  the  next  morning. 

If  the  Russian  peasant's  food  were  always  as  good  and  plentiful  as 
at  this  season  of  the  year,  he  would  have  little  reason  to  complain  ;  but 
this  is  by  no  means  the  case.  Gradually,  as  the  harvest-time  recedes, 
it  deteriorates  in  quality,  and  sometimes  diminishes  in  quantity.  Besides 
this,  during  a  great  part  of  the  year  the  peasant  is  prevented  from 
using  much  that  he  possesses  by  the  rules  of  the  Church. 

In  southern  climes,  where  these  rules  were  elaborated  and  first  prac- 
ticed, the  prescribed  fasts  are  perhaps  useful  not  only  in  a  religious, 
but  also  in  a  sanitary  sense.  Having  abundance  of  fruit  and  vegeta- 
bles, the  inhabitants  do  well,  perhaps,  in  abstaining  occasionally  from 
animal  food.  But  in  countries  like  Northern  and  Central  Russia,  the 
influence  of  these  rules  is  very  different.  The  Russian  peasant  cannot 
obtain  as  much  animal  food  as  he  requires,  whilst  sour  cabbage  and 
cucumbers  are  probably  the  only  vegetables  he  can  procure,  and  fruit 
of  any  kind  is  for  him  an  unattainable  luxury.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, al)Stinence  from  eggs  and  milk  in  all  their  forms  during  several 
months  of  the  year  seems  to  the  secular  mind  a  superfluous  bit  of 
asceticism.  If  the  Church  would  direct  her  maternal  solicitude  to  the 
peasant's  drinking,  and  leave  him  to  eat  what  ho  pleases,  she  might 
exercise  a  beneficial  influence  on  his  material  and  moral  welfare.  Un- 
fortunately she  has  a  great  deal  too  much  inherent  immobility  to  do 
anything  of  the  kind,  and  there  is  no  reasonable  probability  of  her  ever 
arriving  at  the  simple  truth,  for  which  there  is  very  high  authority, 
that  rules  and  ordinances  were  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
rules  and  ordinances.     Meanwhile,  the   Russian   peasant   must   fast 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 


105 


Asiatic  Reser\t:s  at  Tifus. 

during  the  seven  weeks  of  Lent,  during  two  or  three  weeks  in  June, 
from  the  beginning  of  November  till  Christmas,  and  on  all  Wednesdays 
and  Fridays  during  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

From  the  festival  time  till  the  following  spring  there  is  no  possibility 
of  doing  any  agricultural  work,  for  the  ground  is  hard  as  iron,  and 
covered  Anth  a  deep  layer  of  snow.  The  male  peasants,  therefore,  who 
remain  iu  the  villages,  have  very  little  to  do,  and  may  spend  the 
greater  part  of  their  time  in  lying  idly  on  the  stove,  unless  they  happen 
to  have  learned  some  handicraft  that  can  be  practiced  at  home.  For- 
merly, many  of  them  were  employed  in  transporting  the  grain  to  the 
market  town,  which  might  be  several  hundred  miles  distant ;  but  now 
this  species  of  occupation  has  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  extension 
of  railways. 

For  the  female  part  of  the  population  winter  is  a  busy  time,  for  it  is 
during  these  four  or  five  months  that  the  spinning  and  weaving  have 
to  be  done. 

In  many  of  the  northern  villages  the  tedium  of  the  long  winter 


106  THE  RUSSIAN- PEASANTRY. 

evenings  is  relieved  by  so-called  Besyedy,  a  word  which  signifies  liter- 
ally conversazioni.  A  Besyeda,  however,  is  not  exactly  a  conversa- 
zione as  we  understand  the  term,  but  resembles  rather  what  is  by  some 
ladies  called  a  Dorcas  meeting,  with  this  essential  diifereuce,  that  those 
present  work  for  themselves  and  not  for  any  benevolent  purpose.  In 
some  villages  as  many  as  three  Besyedy  regularly  assemble  about  sun- 
set :  one  for  the  children,  the  second  for  the  young  people,  and  the 
third  for  the  matrons.  Each  of  the  three  has  its  peculiar  character. 
In  the  first,  the  children  work  and  amuse  themselves  under  the  super- 
intendence of  an  old  woman,  who  trims  the  torch  and  endeavors  to 
keep  order.  The  little  girls  spin  flax  in  a  primitive  way  without  the 
aid  of  a  "jenny,"  and  the  boys,  who  are,  on  the  whole,  much  less  indus- 
trious, make  rude  shoes  of  plaited  bark,  or  simple  bits  of  wicker-work. 
These  occupations  do  not  prevent  an  almost  incessant  hum  of  talk, 
frequent  discordant  attempts  to  sing  in  chorus,  and  occasional  quarrels 
requiring  the  energetic  interference  of  the  old  woman  who  sits  by  the 
torch.  To  amuse  her  noisy  flock  she  sometimes  relates  to  them,  for 
the  hundredth  time,  one  of  those  wonderful  old  stories  that  lose  nothing 
by  repetition,  and  all  listen  to  her  attentively,  as  if  they  had  never 
heard  the  story  before.  The  second  Besyeda  is  held  in  another  house 
by  the  young  people  of  a  riper  age.  Here  the  Avorkers  are  naturally 
more  staid,  less  given  to  quarreling,  sing  more  in  harmony,  and  require 
no  one  to  look  after  them.  Some  people,  however,  might  think  that  a 
chaperon  or  inspector  of  some  kind  would  be  by  no  means  out  of  place, 
for  a  good  deal  of  flirtation  goes  on,  and,  if  village  scandal  is  to  be 
trusted,  strict  propriety  in  thought,  word  and  deed  is  not  always  ob- 
served. How  far  these  reports  are  true  I  cannot  pretend  to  say,  for 
the  presence  of  a  stranger  always  acts  on  the  company  like  the  presence 
of  a  severe  inspector.  In  the  third  Besyeda  there  is  always  at  least 
strict  decorum.  Here  the  married  women  work  together  and  talk 
about  their  domestic  concerns,  enlivening  the  conversation  occasionally 
by  the  introduction  of  little  bits  of  village  scandal. 

8uch  is  the  ordinary  life  of  the  peasants  who  live  by  agriculture; 
but  many  of  the  villagers  live  occasionally  or  permanently  in  the 
towns.  Probably  a  majority  of  the  peasants  in  this  part  of  Russia 
have  at  some  period  of  their  lives  gained  a  living  in  some  other  part 
of  the  country.  Many  of  the  absentees  spend  regularly  a  part  of  the 
year  at  home,  whilst  others  visit  their  families  only  occasionally,  and 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY.  107 

it  may  be,  at  long  intervals.  In  no  case,  however,  do  they  sever  their 
connection  with  their  native  village.  The  artisan  who  goes  to  work  in 
a  distant  town  never  takes  his  wife  and  family  with  him,  and  even  the 
man  who  becomes  a  rich  merchant  in  Moscow  or  St.  Petersburg  remains 
probably  a  member  of  the  Village  Commune,  and  pays  his  share  of  the 
taxes,  though  he  does  not  enjoy  any  of  the  corresponding  privileges. 

In  respect  to  these  non-agricultural  occupations,  each  district  has  its 
specialty.  The  province  of  Yaroslaff,  for  instance,  supplies  the  large 
towns  with  waiters  for  the  lower  class  of  restaurants,  whilst  the  best 
hotels  in  Petersburg  are  supplied  by  the  Tartars  of  Kasimof,  celebrated 
for  their  sobriety  and  honesty.  One  part  of  the  province  of  Kostrama 
has  a  special  reputation  for  producing  carpenters  and  stove-builders, 
whilst  another  part  sends  yearly  to  Siberia — not  as  convicts,  but  as  free 
laborers — a  large  contingent  of  tailors  and  workers  in  felt ! 

Very  often  the  peasants  find  industrial  occupations  without  leaving 
home,  for  various  industries  which  do  not  require  complicated  machinery 
are  practiced  in  the  villages  by  the  peasants  and  their  families.  Tex- 
tile fabrics,  wooden  vessels,  wrought  iron,  pottery,  leather,  rush-matting, 
and  numerous  other  articles  are  thus  produced  in  enormous  quantities. 
Occasionally  will  be  found  not  only  a  whole  village,  but  even  a  whole 
district  occupied  almost  exclusively  with  some  one  kind  of  manual 
industry.  In  the  province  of  Vladimir,  for  example,  a  large  group  of 
villages  live  by  Icon-painting ;  in  one  locality  near  Js^izhni,  nineteen 
villages  are  occupied  with  the  manufacture  of  axes ;  round  about  Pav- 
lovo,  in  the  same  province,  eighty  villages  produce  almost  nothing  but 
cutlery ;  and  in  a  locality  called  Ouloma,  on  the  borders  of  Xovgorod 
and  Tver,  no  less  than  two  hundred  villages  live  by  nail-making. 

These  domestic  industries  have  long  existed,  and  have  hitherto  been 
an  abundant  source  of  revenue — providing  a  certain  compensation  for 
the  poverty  of  the  soil.  But  at  present  they  are  in  a  very  critical 
position.  They  belong  to  the  primitive  period  of  economic  develop- 
ment, and  that  period  in  Russia  is  now  rapidly  drawing  to  a  close. 
Formerly  the  Head  of  a  Household  bought  the  raw  material,  and  sold 
with  a  reasonable  profit  the  manufactured  articles  at  the  "  Bazaars,"  as 
the  local  fairs  are  called,  or  perhaps  at  the  great  annual  Fair  of  Xizhni- 
Novgorod.  This  primitive  system  is  now  rapidly  becoming  obsolete. 
Great  factories  are  quickly  multiplying,  and  it  is  difficult  for  manual 
labor,  unassisted  by  machinery,  to  compete  with  them.     Besides  this, 


108  THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 

the  periodical  Bazaars  and  Fairs  at  which  producers  and  consumers 
transacted  their  afiairs  without  mediation,  are  being  gradually  replaced 
by  permanent  stores  and  various  classes  of  middle-men,  who  facilitate 
the  relations  between  consumers  and  producers.  In  a  word,  capital 
and  wholesale  enterprise  have  come  into  the  field,  and  are  revolutioniz- 
ing the  old  methods  of  production  and  trade.  Many  of  those  who 
formerly  worked  at  home  on  their  own  account  are  now  forced  to  enter 
the  great  factories  and  work  for  fixed  weekly  or  monthly  wages ;  and 
nearly  all  who  still  work  at  home  now  receive  the  raw  material  on 
credit,  and  deliver  the  manufactured  articles  to  wholesale  merchants  at 
a  stipulated  price. 

If  we  draw  a  wavy  line  eastward  from  a  point  a  little  to  the  north 
of  St.  Petersburg,  we  shall  have  between  that  line  and  the  Polar 
Ocean  what  may  be  regarded  as  a  distinct,  peculiar  region,  differing 
in  many  respects  from  the  rest  of  Russia.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
it  the  climate  is  very  severe.  For  about  half  of  the  year  the  ground 
is  covered  by  deep  snow,  and  the  rivers  covered  with  ice.  By  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  surface  is  occupied  by  forests  of  pine,  fir,  larch, 
and  birch,  or  by  vast,  unfathomable  morasses.  The  arable  land  and 
pasturage  taken  together  form  only  about  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  of 
the  area.  The  population  is  scarce — little  more  than  one  to  the 
square  mile — and  settled  chiefly  along  the  banks  of  the  rivers.  The 
peasantry  support  themselves  by  fishing,  hunting,  felling  and  floating 
timber,  preparing  tar  and  charcoal,  cattle-bi  eediug,  and,  in  the  extreme 
north,  by  breeding  reindeer. 

These  are  their  chief  occupations,  but  they  do  not  entirely  neglect 
agriculture.  Their  summer  is  short,  but  they  make  the  most  of  it  by 
means  of  a  peculiar  and  ingenious  mode  of  farming,  which,  though  it 
may  seem  strange,  not  to  say  absurd,  to  the  American  farmer,  is  well 
adapted  to  the  peculiar  local  conditions.  The  peasant  knows  of  course 
nothing  about  agricultural  chemistry,  but  he,  as  well  as  his  fore- 
fathers, have  observed  that  if  wood  be  burnt  on  a  field,  and  the  ashes 
be  mixed  with  the  soil,  the  probable  result  is  a  good  harvest.  On  this 
simple  principle  his  system  of  farming  is  based.  When  spring  comes 
round  and  the  leaves  begin  to  appear  on  the  trees,  a  band  of  peasants, 
armed  with  their  hatchets,  proceed  to  some  spot  in  the  woods  previously 
fixed  upon.  Here  they  begin  to  make  a  clearing.  This  is  no  easy 
matter,  for  tree-felling  is  hard  and  tedious  work ;  but  the  process  does 


THE    RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 


109 


The  Czar  Designating  Additions  to  the  Regular  Army. 


not  take  so  much  time  as  miglit  be  expected,  for  the  workmen  have 
been  brought  up  to  the  trade,  and  wield  their  axes  with  marvelous 
dexterity.  Besides  this,  they  contrive,  it  is  said,  to  use  fire  as  an 
assistant.  When  they  have  felled  all  the  trees,  great  and  small,  they 
return  to  their  homes,  and  think  no  more  about  their  clearing  till  the 
autumn,  when  they  return,  in  order  to  strip  the  fallen  trees  of  their 
branches,  to  pick  out  what  they  require  for  building  purposes  or  fire- 
wood, and  to  pile  up  the  remainder  in  heaps.  The  logs  for  building 
or  firewood  are  dragged  away  by  horses  as  soon  as  the  first  fall  of 
snow  has  made  a  good  slippery  road,  but  the  piles  are  allowed  to 
remain  till  the  following  spring,  when  they  are  stirred  up  with  long 
poles  and  ignited.  The  flames  first  appear  at  several  points,  and  then, 
with  the  help  of  the  dry  grass  and  chips,  rapidly  spread  in  all  direc- 
tions till  they  join  together,  and  form  a  gigantic  bonfire,  such  as  is 
never  seen  in  more  densely  populated  countries.  If  the  fire  does  its 
work  properly,  the  whole  of  the  space  is  covered  with  a  layer  of  ashes ; 


110  THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY. 

and  when  these  have  been  slightly  mixed  with  soil  by  means  of  a 
light  plow,  the  seed  is  sown. 

On  the  field  prepared  in  this  original  fashion  is  sown  barley,  rye,  or 
flax ;  and  the  harvests,  nearly  always  good,  sometimes  border  on  the 
miraculous.  Barley  or  rye  may  be  expected  to  produce  about  sixfold 
in  ordinary  years,  and  they  may  produce  as  much  as  thirty-fold  under 
peculiarly  favorable  circumstances.  The  fertility  is,  however,  short- 
lived. If  the  soil  is  poor  and  stony,  not  more  than  two  crops  can  be 
raised ;  but  if  it  is  of  a  better  quality,  it  may  give  tolerable  harvests 
for  six  or  seven  successive  years.  In  most  countries  this  would  be  an 
absurdly  expensive  way  of  manuring,  for  wood  is  much  too  valuable  a 
commodity  to  be  used  for  such  a  purpose ;  but  in  this  northern  region 
the  forests  are  boundless,  and  in  the  districts  where  there  is  no  river  or 
stream  by  which  timber  may  be  floated,  the  trees  not  used  in  this  way 
rot  from  old  age.  Under  these  circumstances  the  system  is  reasonable, 
but  it  must  be  admitted  that  it  does  not  give  a  very  large  return  for 
the  amount  of  labor  expended,  and  in  bad  seasons  it  gives  almost  no 
return  at  all. 

The  other  sources  of  revenue  are  scarcely  less  precarious.  With  his 
gun  and  a  little  parcel  of  provisions,  the  peasant  wanders  about  in  the 
trackless  forests,  and  too  often  returns  after  many  days  with  a  very 
light  bag ;  or  he  starts  in  autumn  for  some  distant  lake,  and  comes 
back  after  five  or  six  weeks  with  nothing  better  than  perch  and  pike. 
Sometimes  he  tries  his  luck  at  deep-sea  fishing.  In  this  case  he  starts 
in  February — probably  on  foot — for  Kcm,  situated  on  the  shore  of  the 
AVhite  Sea,  or  perhaps  for  the  more  distant  Kola,  situated  on  a  small 
river  which  falls  into  the  Arctic  Ocean.  There,  in  company  with 
three  or  four  others,  he  starts  on  a  fishing  cruise  along  the  IMurman 
coast,  or,  it  may  be,  ofi"  the  coast  of  Spitzbergen.  His  gains  will 
depend  on  the  amount  caught,  for  it  is  a  joint-venture ;  but  in  no  case 
can  they  be  very  great,  for  three-fourths  of  the  fish  brought  into  port 
belong  to  the  owner  of  the  craft  and  tackle.  Of  the  sum  realized  he 
brings  home  perhaps  only  a  small  part,  for  he  has  a  strong  temptation 
to  buy  rum,  tea,  and  other  luxuries,  which  are  very  dear  in  those 
northern  latitudes.  If  the  fishing  is  good  and  he  resists  temptation,  he 
may  save  as  much  as  one  hundred  roubles — about  sixty  dollars — and 
thereby  live  comfortably  all  winter ;  but  if  the  fishing  season  is  bad, 
he  may  find  himself  at  the  end  of  it  not  only  with  empty  pockets,  but 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEASANTRY.  Ill 

in  debt  to  the  owner  of  the  boat.  This  debt  he  may  pay  off,  if  he  has 
a  horse,  by  transporting  the  dried  fish  to  Kargopol,  St.  Petersburg,  or 
some  other  market. 

Perhaps  the  best  way  to  convey  an  idea  of  peasant  life  in  this  region 
is  to  give  a  family  budget  which  we  happen  to  have  at  hand.  The 
family  consisted  of  five  members :  two  able-bodied  males,  one  boy,  and 
two  women.  The  year  was,  on  the  whole,  a  good  one ;  for  though  the 
fishing  was  not  as  successful  as  it  might  have  been,  the  harvest  was 
much  more  plentiful  than  usual,  and  supplied  the  family  with  food  for 
five  months.  The  following  table  shows  the  revenue  and  expenditure 
in  United  States  money : 

REVENUE. 
Sold  loo  pairs  of  Gelinottes  and  other  Game,  at  12^  cents  per  pair  .  ^12.50 

Sold  200  lbs.  of  Caviar,  at  6  !4;  cents  per  lb 12.50 

Sold  Dried  Fish 6.25 

Sold  Herrings  and  other  Sea  Fish 16.25 

Miscellanea  (perhaps  from  felling  timber) •••     13-75 

jg6i.2S 
EXPENDITURE. 
Rye  Meal  (2,240  lbs.),  to  supply  the  deficit  of  the  harvest  ....  I35.00 

Taxes "-25 

Clothes  and  Boots 12.50 

Fishing  Tackle,  Powder  and  Shot,  etc 2.50 

^61.25 

The  above  budget  must  not  be  regarded  as  anything  more  than  a 
possibility,  but  it  may  perhaps  assist  the  reader  who  desires  to  gain  at 
least  a  vague  notion  of  peasant  life  throughout  a  large  part  of  Northern 
Russia. 


112  TRAVELLING   IN  RUSSIA. 

CHAPTER  V. 

TRAVELLING  IN  EUSSIA. 

Travelling  in  Russia  is  no  longer  what  it  "was.  During  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century  a  vast  network  of  railways  has  been  constructed, 
and  one  can  now  travel  in  a  comfortable  first-class  carriage  from 
Berlin  to  St.  Petersburg  or  Moscow,  and  thence  to  Odessa,  Sebastopol, 
the  lower  Volga,  or  even  the  foot  of  the  Caucasus ;  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  railways  are  tolerably  comfortable,  and  the  cars  are  kept  warm  by 
small  iron  stoves,  assisted  by  double  windows  and  double  doors — a 
very  necessary  precaution  in  a  land  where  the  thermometer  often 
descends  to  thirty  degrees  below  zero.  The  trains  never  attain,  it  is 
true,  a  high  rate  of  speed  ;  but  then  we  must  remember  that  Russians 
are  rarely  in  a  hurry,  and  like  to  have  frequent  opportunities  of 
eating  and  drinking.  In  Russia  time  is  not  money ;  if  it  were,  nearly 
all  the  subjects  of  the  Czar  would  always  have  a  large  stock  of  ready 
money  on  hand,  and  would  often  have  great  difficulty  in  spending  it. 
In  reality,  a  Russian  with  a  superabundance  of  ready  money  is  a 
phenomenon  rarely  met  with  in  actual  life. 

In  conveying  passengers  at  the  rate  of  from  fifteen  to  thirty  miles 
an  hour,  the  railway  companies  do  at  least  all  that  they  promise ;  but 
in  one  very  important  respect  they  do  not  always  strictly  fulfill  their 
engagements.  The  traveller  takes  a  ticket  for  a  certain  tovrn,  and  on 
arriving  at  what  he  imagines  to  be  his  destination,  he  may  find  merely 
a  railway  station  surrounded  by  fields.  On  making  inquiries,  he  finds, 
to  his  di.-^appointment,  that  the  station  is  by  no  means  identical  with 
the  town  bearing  the  same  name,  and  that  the  railway  has  fallen 
several  miles  short  of  fulfilling  the  bargain,  as  he  understood  the  terms 
of  the  contract.  Indeed,  it  might  almost  be  said  that  as  a  general 
rule  railways  in  Russia,  like  camel-drivers  in  certain  Eastern  countries, 
studiously  avoid  the  towns.  This  seems  at  first  a  strange  fact.  It  is 
possible  to  conceive  that  the  Bedouin  is  so  enamored  of  tent  life  and 
nomadic  ha!)rts,  that  he  shuns  a  town  as  he  would  a  man-trap ;  but 
surely  civil  engineers  and  railway  contractors  have  no  such  dread  of 
brick  and  mortar.     The  true  reason,  j^robably,  is  that  land  within  or 


TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 


113 


Nicholas  Shishkin,  Russian  Minister  to  the  United  States, 


114  TRAVELLliXG  IN  RUSSIA. 

immediately  outside  the  municipal  barrier  is  relatively  dear,  and  that 
the  railways,  being  completely  beyond  the  invigorating  influence  of 
healthy  competition,  can  afford  to  look  upon  the  comfort  and  con- 
venience of  passengers  as  a  secondary  consideration. 

In  one  celebrated  instance  neither  engineers  nor  railway  contractors 
were  to  blame.  From  St.  Petersburg  to  Moscow  the  locomotive  runs 
for  a  distance  of  four  hundred  miles,  almost  as  "the  crow"  is  supposed 
to  fly,  turning  neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left.  For  fifteen 
weary  hours  the  passenger  in  the  express  train  looks  out  on  forest  and 
morass,  and  rarely  catches  sight  of  human  habitation.  And  why  was 
the  railway  constructed  in  this  extraordinary  fashion  ?  For  the  best 
of  all  reasons — because  the  Czar  so  ordered  it.  When  the  preliminary 
survey  was  being  made,  Nicholas  learned  that  the  ofiicers  intrusted 
with  the  task  were  being  influenced  more  by  personal  than  technical 
considerations,  and  he  determined  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  in  true 
Imperial  style.  When  the  Minister  laid  before  him  the  map  with  the 
intention  of  explaining  the  proposed  route,  he  took  a  ruler,  drew  a 
straight  line  from  the  one  terminus  to  the  other  and  remarked  in  a 
tone  that  precluded  all  discussion,  "  You  will  construct  the  line  so !" 
And  the  line  was  so  constructed — remaining  to  all  future  ages,  like 
St.  Petersburg  and  the  Pyramids,  a  magnificent  monument  of  autocratic 
power. 

Formerly  this  well-known  incident  was  often  cited  to  illustrate  the 
evils  of  the  autocratic  form  of  government.  Imperial  whims,  it  was 
said,  over-ride  grave  economic  considerations.  In  recent  years,  how- 
ever, this  so-called  Imperial  whim  is  regarded  as  an  act  of  far-seeing 
policy.  As  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  goods  and  passengers  are 
carried  the  whole  length  of  the  line,  it  is  well  that  the  line  should  be 
as  short  as  possible,  and  that  branch  lines  should  be  constructed  to  the 
towns  lying  to  the  right  and  left.  Apart  from  political  considerations, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  a  good  deal  may  be  said  in  support  of  this 
view. 

In  the  development  of  the  railway  system  there  has  been  another 
disturbing  cause.  In  America,  individuals  and  companies  habitually 
act  according  to  their  private  interests,  and  the  State  interferes  only 
when  the  authorities  can  prove  that  im])ortant  bad  consequences  ^^^ll 
necessarily  result.  In  Russia,  the  burden  of  proof  lies  on  the  other 
side ;  private  enterprise  is  allowed  to  do  nothing  until  it  gives  guaran- 


TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA.  115 

tees  against  all  possible  bad  consequences.  When  any  great  enterprise 
is  projected,  the  first  question  is — "  How  will  this  new  scheme  afiect 
the  interests  of  the  State?"  Thus,  when  the  course  of  a  new  railway 
has  to  be  determined,  the  military  authorities  are  always  consulted, 
and  their  opinion  has  a  great  influence  on  the  ultimate  decision.  The 
consequence  of  this  is  that  the  railway-map  of  Kussia  presents  to  the 
eye  of  the  tactician  much  that  is  quite  unintelligible  to  the  ordinary 
observer — a  fact  that  will  become  apparent  to  the  uninitiated  as  the 
war  in  Eastern  Europe  progresses.  Kussia  is  no  longer  what  she  was 
in  the  days  of  the  Crimean  "War,  when  troops  and  stores  had  to  be 
conveyed  hundreds  of  miles  by  the  most  primitive  means  of  transport. 
At  that  time  she  had  only  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of 
railway;  now  she  has  more  than  eleven  thousand  miles,  and  every 
year  new  lines  are  constructed. 

The  water-communication  has  likewise  in  recent  years  been  greatly 
improved.  On  all  the  principal  rivers  there  are  now  tolerably  good 
steamers.  Unfortunately,  the  climate  puts  serious  obstructions  in  the 
way  of  navigation.  For  nearly  half  of  the  year  the  rivers  are  covered 
with  ice,  and  during  a  great  part  of  the  open  season  navigation  is 
difficult.  When  the  ice  and  snow  melt,  the  rivers  overflow  their  banks 
and  lay  a  great  part  of  the  low-lying  country  under  water,  so  that 
many  villages  can  only  be  approached  in  boats;  but  very  soon  the 
flood  subsides,  and  the  water  falls  so  rapidly,  that  by  midsummer  the 
larger  steamers  have  great  difficulty  in  picking  their  way  among  the 
sand-banks. 

On  these  steamers  one  meets  with  curious  travelling  companions. 
The  majority  of  the  passengers  are  Russian  peasants,  who  are  always 
ready  to  chat  freely  without  demanding  a  formal  introduction,  and  to 
relate  to  a  new  acquaintance  the  simple  story  of  their  lives.  Many 
weary  hours  may  thus  be  whiled  away  both  pleasantly  and  profitably, 
and  one  is  impressed  with  the  peasant's  homely  common  sense,  good- 
natured  kindliness,  half-fatalistic  resignation,  and  strong  desire  to 
learn  something  about  foieign  countries.  This  last  peculiarity  makes 
him  question  as  well  as  communicate,  and  his  questions,  though  some- 
times apparently  childish,  are  generally  to  the  point.  Among  the 
passengers  might  also  be  seen  some  representatives  of  the  various 
Finnish  tribes  inhabiting  this  country,  but  they  are  far  less  sociable 
than   the  Russians.     Nature  seems  to  have  made  them  silent  and 


116  TRAVELLING   IN  RUSSIA. 

morose,  whilst  their  conditions  of  life  have  made  them  shy  and  dis- 
trustful. The  Tartar,  on  the  other  hand,  is  almost  sure  to  be  a  lively 
and  amusing  companion.  Most  probably  he  is  a  peddler  or  small 
trader  of  some  kind.  The  bundle  on  which  he  reclines  contains  his 
stock  in  trade,  composed  of  cotton,  printed  goods  and  bright  colored 
handkerchiefs.  He  himself  is  enveloped  in  a  capacious  greasy  khalat, 
or  dressing-gown,  and  wears  a  fur  cap,  though  the  thermometer  may 
be  at  ninety  degrees  in  the  shade.  The  roguish  twinkle  in  his  small 
piercing  eyes  contrasts  strongly  with  the  sombre,  stolid  expression  of 
the  Finnish  peasants  sitting  near  him.  He  has  much  to  relate  about 
St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  and  perhaps  Astrakhan ;  but,  like  a  genuine 
trader,  he  is  very  reticent  regarding  the  mysteries  of  his  own  craft. 
Towards  sunset  he  retires  with  his  companions  to  some  quiet  spot  on 
the  deck  to  recite  the  evening  prayers.  Here  all  the  good  Mahometans 
on  board  assemble  and  stroke  their  beards,  kneel  on  their  little  strips 
of  carpet  and  prostrate  themselves,  all  keeping  time  as  if  they  were 
performing  some  new  kind  of  drill  under  the  eye  of  a  severe  drill- 
sergeant. 

If  the  voyage  is  made  about  the  end  of  September,  when  the  traders 
are  returning  home  from  the  fair  at  Nizhni-Novgorod,  the  traveller 
will  then  find  not  only  representatives  of  the  Finnish  and  Tartar  races, 
but  also  Armenians,  Circassians,  Persians,  Bokhariots,  and  other 
Orientals — a  motley  and  picturesque  but  decidedly  unsavory  cargo. 

In  the  item  of  hotel  accommodations,  the  Russians  are  far  behind 
the  other  nations  of  Europe.  The  cities  where  foreigners  most  do  con- 
gregate— St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Odessa — possess  hotels  that  will 
bear  comparison  with  those  of  Western  Europe,  and  some  of  the  more 
important  provincial  towns  can  offer  very  respectable  accommodation  ; 
but  there  is  still  much  to  be  done  before  those  accustomed  to  the  usages 
of  civilized  society  can  travel  with  comfort  even  on  the  principal  routes. 
Cleanliness,  the  first  and  most  essential  element  of  comfort,  is  a  rare 
commodity,  and  often  cannot  be  procured  at  any  price. 

Even  in  good  hotels,  when  they  are  of  the  genuine  Russian  type, 
there  are  certain  peculiarities  which,  though  not  in  themselves  objection- 
able, strike  a  foreigner  as  peculiar.  Thus,  when  you  alight  at  such  an 
hotel,  you  are  expected  to  examine  a  considerable  number  of  rooms,  and 
to  inquire  about  the  respective  prices.  When  you  have  fixed  upon  a 
suitable  apartment,  you  will  do  well,  if  you  wish  to  practice  economy, 


TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 


117 


r-r- 


Mounted  Oriental  Soldiers. 


to  propose  to  the  landlord  considerably  less  than  he  demands ;  and  you 
will  generally  find,  if  you  have  a  talent  for  bargaining,  that  the  rooms 
may  be  hired  for  somewhat  less  than  the  sum  first  stated.  You  must 
be  careful,  however,  to  leave  no  possibility  of  doubt  as  to  the  terms  of 
the  contract.  Perhaps  you  assume  that,  as  in  taking  a  cab  a  horse  is 
always  supplied  without  special  stipulation,  so  in  hiring  a  bedroom  the 
bargain  includes  a  bed  and  the  necessary  appurtenances.  Such  an 
assumption  will  not  always  be  justified.  The  landlord  may  perhaps 
give  you  a  bedstead  without  extra  charge,  but  if  he  be  uncorrupted  by 
foreign  notions,  he  will  certainly  not  spontaneously  supply  you  with 
bed-linen,  pillow,  blankets,  and  towels.  On  the  contrary,  he  will 
assume  that  you  carry  all  these  articles  with  you,  and  if  you  do  not, 
you  must  pay  for  those  which  you  borrow  from  him. 

This  ancient  custom  has  produced  among  certain  Russians  a  curious 


113  TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 

kind  of  fastidiousness  to  which  we  are  strangers.  They  strongly  dislike 
using  sheets,  blankets,  and  towels  which  are  in  a  certain  sense  public 
property,  just  as  we  should  strongly  object  to  putting  on  clothes  which 
had  been  already  worn  by  other  people. 

The  inconvenience  of  carrying  about  these  essential  articles  of  bed- 
room furniture  is  by  no  means  so  great  as  may  at  first  sight  be  supposed. 
Bedrooms  in  Russia  are  always  heated  during  cold  weather,  so  that  one 
light  blanket,  which  may  be  used  also  as  a  railway  rug,  is  quite  suffi- 
cient, whilst  sheets,  pillow-cases,  and  towels  take  up  very  little  space 
in  a  portmanteau.  The  most  cumbrous  object  is  the  pillow,  for  air- 
cushions,  having  always  a  disagreeable  odor,  are  not  well  suited  for  the 
purpose.  But  Russians  are  accustomed  to  this  incumbrance.  In  for- 
mer days — as  at  the  present  time  in  those  parts  of  the  country  where 
there  are  neither  railways  nor  macadamized  roads — people  travelled  in 
carts  or  carriages  without  springs,  and  in  these  instruments  of  torture 
a  huge  pile  of  cushions  or  pillows  is  necessary  to  avoid  contusions  and 
dislocations.  On  the  railways,  the  jolts  and  shakings  are  not  deadly 
enough  to  require  such  an  antidote ;  but,  even  in  uncouservative  Russia, 
customs  outlive  the  conditions  that  created  them  ;  and  at  every  railway 
station  may  be  seen  men  and  women  carrying  about  their  pillows  with 
them  as  we  carry  wraps  and  hat-boxes.  A  genuine  Russian  merchant 
who  loves  comfort  and  respects  tradition  may  travel  without  a  port- 
manteau, but  he  considers  his  pillow  as  an  indispensable  accompani- 
ment. 

The  negotiations  with  the  landlord  being  completed,  the  waiter  pre- 
pares to  perform  the  duties  of  valei  de  ehambre.  Formerly,  every  well- 
born Russian  had  a  valet  always  in  attendance,  and  never  dreamed  of 
doing  for  himself  anything  which  could  by  any  possibility  be  done  for 
him.  It  will  be  noticed  that  there  is  no  bell  in  the  room,  and  no 
mechanical  means  of  communicating  with  the  world  below  stairs.  That 
is  because  the  attendant  is  supposed  to  be  always  within  call,  and  it  is 
so  much  easier  to  shout  than  to  get  up  and  ring  the  bell. 

AVhen  the  toilet  0})erations  are  completed,  and  tea  is  ordered — one 
always  orders  tea  in  Russia — the  guest  will  be  asked  Avhether  he  has 
his  own  tea  and  sugar  Avith  him.  If  he  is  an  experienced  traveller  he 
will  be  able  to  reply  in  the  affirmative,  for  good  tea  can  be  bought  only 
in  certain  well-known  shops,  and  can  never  be  found  in  hotels.  A 
huge  steaming  tea-urn,  called  a  "Samovar" — etymologically,  a  "self- 


TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA.  119 

boiler" — will  be  brought  in,  and  lie  can  make  his  tea  according  to  his 
taste. 

These  and  similar  remnants  of  old  customs  are  now  rapidly  disappear- 
ing, and  will,  doubtless,  in  a  very  few  years  be  things  of  the  past — 
things  to  be  picked  up  in  out-of-the-way  corners,  and  chronicled  by 
social  archseology ;  but  they  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  best  hotels  in 
some  of  the  Russian  towns. 

Many  of  these  old  customs,  and  especially  the  old  method  of  travel- 
ling, may  still  be  studied  in  all  their  pristine  purity  throughout  a  great 
part  of  the  country.  Though  railway  construction  has  been  pushed 
forward  with  great  energy  during  the  last  twenty  years,  the  fire-horse 
has  not  yet  crossed  the  Ural ;  and  in  what  may  be  called  Cis-Uralia, 
there  are  still  vast  regions  where  the  ancient  solitudes  have  never 
been  disturbed  by  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  locomotive,  and  roads  have 
remained  in  their  primitive  condition.  Even  in  the  central  region  one 
may  still  travel  hundreds  of  miles  without  ever  encountering  anything 
that  recalls  the  name  of  Macadam. 

The  roads  are  nearly  all  of  the  unmade,  natural  kind,  and  are  so 
conservative  in  their  nature  that  they  have  at  the  present  day  precisely 
the  same  appearance  as  they  had  many  centuries  ago.  The  only  per- 
ceptible change  that  takes  place  in  them  during  a  series  of  generations 
is  that  the  ruts  shift  their  position.  When  these  become  so  deep  that 
fore-wheels  can  no  longer  fathom  them,  it  becomes  necessary  to  begin 
making  a  new  pair  of  ruts  to  the  right  or  left  of  the  old  ones  ;  and  as 
the  roads  are  commonly  of  gigantic  breadth,  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
finding  a  place  for  the  operation.  How  the  old  ones  get  filled  up  can- 
not easily  be  explained ;  but  as  in  no  part  of  the  country  are  workmen 
seen  engaged  in  road-repairing,  it  may  be  assumed  that  beneficent 
Nature  somehow  accomplishes  the  task  without  human  assistance,  either 
by  means  of  alluvial  deposits,  or  by  some  other  cosmical  action  best 
knoAvn  to  physical  geographers. 

The  reader  who  has  heard  of  the  gigantic  reforms  that  have  been 
recently  effected  in  Russia,  may  naturally  be  astonished  to  learn  that 
the  roads  are  still  in  such  a  disgraceful  condition.  But  for  this,  as  for 
everything  else  in  the  world,  there  is  a  good  and  sufficient  reason.  The 
country  is  still,  comparatively  speaking,  thinly  populated,  and  in  many 
regions  it  is  difficult,  or  practically  impossible,  to  procure  in  sufficient 
quantity  stone  of  any  kind,  and  especially  hard  stone  fit  for  road-making. 


120  TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 

Besides  this,  -when  roads  are  made,  the  severity  of  the  climate  renders 
it  difficult  to  keep  them  in  good  repair. 

When  a  long  journey  has  to  be  undertaken  through  a  region  in 
which  there  are  no  railways,  there  are  several  ways  in  which  it  may  be 
effected.  In  former  days,  when  time  was  of  still  less  value  than  at 
present,  many  lauded  proprietors  travelled  with  their  own  horses,  and 
carried  with  them,  in  one  or  more  capacious,  lumbering  vehicles,  all 
that  was  required  for  the  degree  of  civilization  which  they  had  attained ; 
and  their  requirements  were  often  considerable.  The  grand  seigneur, 
for  instance,  who  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life  amidst  the  luxury  of 
the  court  society,  naturally  took  with  him  all  the  portable  elements  of 
civilization.  His  baggage  included,  therefore,  camp-beds,  table-linen, 
silver  plate,  cooking  utensils,  and  a  French  cook.  The  pioneers  and 
part  of  the  commissariat  force  were  always  sent  on  in  advance,  so  that 
his  Excellency  found  at  each  halting-place  everything  prepared  for  his 
arrival.  The  poor  owner  of  a  few  dozen  serfs  dispensed,  of  course,  with 
the  elaborate  commissariat  department,  and  contented  himself  with  such 
modest  fare  as  could  be  packed  in  the  holes  and  corners  of  a  single 
Tarantass. 

It  will  be  well  to  explain  here,  parenthetically,  what  a  Tarantass  is, 
for  we  shall  often  have  occasion  to  use  the  word.  It  may  be  briefly 
defined  as  a  phaeton  without  springs.  The  function  of  springs  is  im- 
perfectly fulfilled  by  two  parallel  Avooden  bars,  placed  longitudinally, 
on  which  is  fixed  the  body  of  the  vehicle.  It  is  commonly  drawn  by 
three  horses — a  strong,  fast  trotter  in  the  shafts,  flanked  on  each  side 
by  a  light,  loosely-attached  horse  that  goes  along  at  a  gallop.  The 
points  of  the  shaft  are  connected  by  the  "  Duga,"  which  looks  like  a 
gigantic,  badly-formed  horseshoe  rising  high  above  the  collar  of  the 
trotter.  To  the  top  of  the  Duga  is  attached  the  bearing-rein,  and  un- 
derneath the  highest  part  of  it  is  fastened  a  big  bell,  which  may  often 
be  distinctly  heard  a  mile  off.  The  use  of  the  bell  is  variously  explained. 
Some  say  it  is  in  order  to  frighten  the  wolves,  and  others  that  it  is  to 
avoid  collisions  on  the  narrow  forest  paths.  But  neither  of  these  ex- 
planations is  entirely  satisfactory.  It  is  used  chiefly  in  summer,  when 
there  is  no  danger  of  an  attack  from  wolves ;  and  the  number  of  bells 
is  greater  in  the  south,  where  there  are  no  forests.  Perhaps  the  origi- 
nal intention  was  to  frighten  away  evil  spirits ;  and  the  practice  has 
been  retained  partly  from  unreasoning  conservatism,  and  partly  with  a 


TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 


121 


view  to  lessen  the  chances  of  collisions.  As  the  roads  are  noiselessly 
soft,  and  the  drivers  not  always  vigilant,  the  dangers  of  collision  are 
considerably  diminished  by  the  ceaseless  peal.  Altogether,  the  Taran- 
tass  is  well  adapted  to  the  conditions  in  which  it  is  used.  By  the 
curious  way  in  which  the  horses  are  harnessed  it  recalls  the  war-chariot 
of  ancient  times.  The  horse  in  the  shafts  is  compelled  by  the  bearing- 
rein  to  keep  his  head  high  and  straight  before  him — though  the  move- 
ment of  his  ears  shows  plainly  that  he  would  very  much  like  to  put  it 
somewhere  further  away 
from  the  tongue  of  the 
bell — but  the  side  horses 
gallop  freely,  turning  their 
heads  outwards  in  classical 
fashion.  This  position  is 
assumed  not  from  any 
sympathy  on  the  part  of 
these  animals  for  the  re- 
mains of  classical  art,  but 
rather  from  the  natural 
desire  to  keep  a  sharp  eye 
on  the  driver.  Every 
movement  of  his  right  hand 
they  watch  Avith  close  at- 
tention, and  as  soon  as  they 
discover  any  symptoms  in- 
dicating an  intention  of 
using  the  whip,  they  im- 
mediately show  a  desire  to 

quicken  the  pace.  Now  that  the  reader  has  gained  some  idea  of 
what  a  Tarantass  is,  we  may  return  to  the  modes  of  travelling 
through  the  regions  which  are  not  yet  supplied  with  railways. 

However  enduring  and  long-winded  horses  may  be,  they  must  be 
allowed  sometimes,  during  a  long  journey,  to  rest  and  feed.  Travel- 
ling  with  one's  own  horses  is  therefore  necessarily  a  slow  operation, 
and  is  already  antiquated.  People  who  value  their  time  prefer  to 
make  use  of  the  Imperial  Post-organization.  On  all  the  principal 
lines  of  communication  there  are  regular  post-stations,  at  from  ten  to 
twenty  miles  apart,  where  a  certain  number  of  horses  and  vehicles 


An  ORiEiNTAL  Traveller. 


122  TRAVELLING  IN  RUSSIA. 

are  kept  for  the  convenience  of  travellers.  To  enjoy  the  privileges 
of  this  arrangement,  one  has  to  apply  to  the  px'oper  authorities  for  a 
"  Podorozhuaya " — a  large  sheet  of  paper  stamped  with  the  Imperial 
Eagle,  and  bearing  the  name  of  the  recipient,  the  destination,  and 
the  number  of  horses  to  be  supplied.  In  return  for  this  document  a 
small  sum  is  paid  for  imaginary  road-repairs ;  the  rest  of  the  sum  is 
paid  by  installments  at  the  respective  stations.  Armed  with  this  docu- 
ment, the  traveller  goes  to  the  post-station,  and  demands  the  requisite 
number  of  horses.  The  vehicle  is  a  kind  of  Tarantass,  but  not  such  as 
we  have  just  described.  The  essentials  in  both  are  the  same,  but  those 
which  the  Imperial  Government  provides  resemble  an  enormous  cradle 
on  wheels,  rather  than  a  phaeton.  An  armful  of  hay  spread  over  the 
bottom  of  the  wooden  box  is  supposed  to  play  the  part  of  cushions. 
The  traveller  is  expected  to  sit  under  the  arched  covering,  and  extend 
his  legs  so  that  the  feet  lie  beneath  the  driver's  seat ;  but  he  will  do 
well,  unless  the  rain  happens  to  be  coming  down  in  torrents,  to  get  this 
covering  unshipped,  and  travel  without  it.  When  used,  it  painfully 
curtails  the  little  freedom  of  movement  that  one  enjoys,  and  when  he 
is  shot  upwards  by  some  obstruction  on  the  road,  it  is  apt  to  arrest  his 
ascent  by  giving  him  a  violent  blow  on  the  top  of  the  head. 

Any  one  who  undertakes  a  journey  of  this  kind  should  possess  a 
Avell-knit,  muscular  frame  and  good  tough  sinews,  capable  of  support- 
ing an  unlimited  amount  of  jolting  and  shaking ;  at  the  same  time,  he 
should  be  well  inured  to  all  the  hardships  and  discomfort  incidental  to 
what  is  vaguely  termed  "  roughing  it."  When  he  wishes  to  sleep  in  a 
post-station,  he  will  find  nothing  softer  than  a  wooden  bench,  unless  he 
can  induce  the  keeper  to  put  for  him  on  the  floor  a  bundle  of  hay,  which 
is  perhaps  softer,  but  on  the  whole  more  disagreeable  than  the  deal 
board.  Sometimes  he  will  not  even  get  the  wooden  bench,  for  in  ordi- 
nary post-stations  there  is  but  one  room  for  travellers,  and  the  two 
benches— there  are  rarely  more— may  be  already  occupied.  When  he 
does  obtain  a  bench,  and  succeeds  in  falling  asleep,  he  must  not  be 
astonished  if  he  is  disturbed  once  or  twice  during  the  night  by  people 
who  use  the  apartment  as  a  waiting-room  whilst  the  post-horses  are 
being  changed.  These  passers-by  may  even  drink  tea,  chat,  laugh, 
smoke,  and  make  themselves  otherwise  disagreeable,  utterly  regardless 
of  the  sleepers. 

Another  requisite  for  a  journey  in  unfrequented  districts  is  a  know- 


TRAVELLIXG  IN  RUSSIA.  123 

ledge  of  the  language.  It  is  popularly  supposed  that  if  one  is  familiar 
with  French  and  German,  he  may  travel  anywhere  in  Russia.  So  far 
as  the  great  cities  are  concerned,  this  is  true,  but  beyond  that  it  is  a 
delusion.  The  Russian  has  not  received  from  Nature  the  gift  of 
tongues.  Educated  Russians  often  speak  one  or  two  foreign  languages 
fluently,  but  the  peasants  know  no  language  but  their  own,  and  it  is 
with  the  peasantry  that  one  comes  in  contact.  And  to  converse  freely 
with  the  peasant  requires  a  considerable  familiarity  with  the  language — 
far  more  than  is  required  for  simply  reading  a  book.  Though  there 
are  few  provincialisms,  and  all  classes  of  tlie  people  use  the  same 
word — except  the  words  of  foreign  origin,  which  are  used  only  by  the 
upper  classes — the  peasant  always  speaks  in  a  more  laconic  and  more 
idiomatic  way  than  the  educated  man. 

In  the  winter  months  travelling  is  in  some  respects  pleasanter  than 
in  summer,  for  snow  and  frost  are  great  macadamizers.  If  the  snow 
falls  evenly,  there  is  for  some  time  the  most  delightful  road  that  can 
be  imagined.  No  jolts,  no  shaking,  but  a  smooth,  gliding  motion,  like 
that  of  a  boat  in  calm  water,  and  the  horses  gallop  along  as  if  totally 
unconscious  of  the  sledge  behind  them.  Unfortunately,  this  happy 
state  of  things  does  not  last  long.  The  road  soon  gets  cut  up,  and 
deep  transverse  furrows  are  formed ;  and  the  sledge,  as  it  crosses  over 
them,  bobs  up  and  down  like  a  boat  in  a  chopping  sea,  with  this  im- 
portant difference,  that  the  boat  falls  into  a  yielding  liquid,  Avhereas 
the  sledge  falls  upon  a  solid  substance,  unyielding  and  unelastic.  The 
shaking  and  jolting  which  result  may  readily  be  imagined. 

There  are  other  discomforts,  too,  in  Avinter  travelling.  So  long  as 
the  air  is  perfectly  still,  the  cold  may  be  very  intense  without  being 
disagreeable ;  but  if  a  strong  head  wind  is  blowing,  and  the  thermome- 
ter ever  so  many  degrees  below  zero,  driving  in  an  open  sledge  is  a 
very  disagreeable  operation,  and  noses  may  get  frost-bitten  without  their 
owners  perceiving  the  fact  in  time  to  take  preventive  measures.  Then 
why  not  take  covered  sledges  on  such  occasions  ?  For  the  simple 
reason  that  they  are  not  to  be  had  ;  and  if  they  could  be  procured,  it 
would  be  well  to  avoid  using  them,  for  they  are  apt  to  produce  some- 
thing very  like  sea-sickness. 


124  THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH. 

I  CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  NATIONAL   CHURCH. 

The  Russians,  though  often  described  as  an  intensely  religious  peo- 
ple, are  singularly  indifferent  to  religious  matters.  Though  uncom- 
promising adherents  of  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  and  accustomed 
to  observe  to  a  certain  extent  its  rites  and  ceremonies,  they  appear  to 
be  free  alike  from  deep  religious  feeling  and  from  shallow  religious 
cant. 

The  educated  classes,  though  warmly  attached  to  their  Church, 
are  in  general  not  at  all  "  religious "  in  the  sense  in  which  we  com- 
monly use  the  word.  In  Moscow,  however,  especially  among  those 
who  are  more  or  less  tinged  with  Slavophil  sentiment,  there  are  many 
persons  who  evidently  take  a  deep  interest  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  and 
regard  Orthodoxy  as  one  of  the  most  essential  elements  of  Russian 
nationality.  According  to  this  class,  it  is  not  possible  to  understand 
the  past  history  and  present  condition  of  Russia  without  knowing  the 
past  history  and  actual  condition  of  the  National  Church.  We  deem 
it  advisable,  therefore,  to  devote  some  attention  to  the  subject  in  the 
present  chapter. 

If  the  Popes  did  not  succeed  in  realizing  their  grand  design  of  cre- 
ating a  vast  European  empire  based  on  theocratic  principles,  they  suc- 
ceeded at  least  in  inspiring  Avith  a  feeling  of  brotherhood  and  a  vague 
consciousness  of  common  interest  all  the  nations  which  acknowledged 
their  spiritual  supremacy.  These  nations,  whilst  remaining  politically 
independent  and  frequently  coming  into  hostile  contact  with  each  other, 
all  looked  to  Rome  as  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world,  and  to  the 
Pope  as  the  highest  terrestrial  authority.  Though  the  Church  did  not 
annihilate  nationality,  it  made  a  wide  breach  in  the  political  barriers, 
and  formed  a  channel  for  international  communication,  by  which  the 
social  and  intellectual  progress  of  each  nation  became  known  to  all  the 
other  members  of  the  great  Christian  confederacy.  Throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Papal  Commonwealth,  educated  men  had  a 
common  language,  a  common  literature,  a  common  scientific  method, 
and  to  a  certain  extent  a  common  jurisprudence.     Western  Christen- 


THE    NATIONAL   CHURCH. 


125 


Kalmuk  Sacrifice. 

dom  was  tlius  not  merely  an  abstract  conception  or  a  geographical 
expression ;  if  not  a  political,  it  was  at  least  a  religious  and  intellectual 
unit. 

For  centuries  Russia  stood  outside  of  this  religious  and  intellectual 
confederation,  for  her  Church  connected  her  not  with  Rome  but  with 
Constantinople,  and  Papal  Europe  looked  upon  her  as  belonging  to  the 
barbarous  East.  When  the  Tartar  hosts  swept  over  her  plains,  burnt 
her  towns  and  villages,  and  finally  incorporated  her  into  the  Great 
Mongol  Empire,  the  so-called  Christian  world  took  no  interest  in  the 
struggle  except  in  so  far  as  its  own  safety  was  threatened.  And  as 
time  wore  on,  the  barriers  which  separated  the  two  great  sections  of 
Christendom  became  more  and  more  formidable.  The  aggressive  pre- 
tensions and  ambitious  schemes  of  the  Vatican  produced  in  the  Greek 


126  THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH. 

Orthodox  world  a  profound  antipathy  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
and  to  Western  influence  of  every  kind.  So  strong  was  this  aversion, 
that  when  the  nations  of  the  West  awakened  in  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  from  their  intellectual  lethargy  and  began  to  move 
forward  on  the  path  of  intellectual  and  material  progress,  Russia  not 
only  remained  unmoved,  but  looked  on  the  new  civilization  with  sus- 
picion and  fear  as  a  thing  heretical  and  accursed.  We  have  here  one 
of  the  chief  reasons  why  Russia,  at  the  jDresent  day,  is  in  ma,ny  respects 
less  civilized  than  the  nations  of  Western  Europe. 

But  it  is  not  merely  in  this  negative  way  that  the  acceptance  of 
Christianity  from  Constantiuople  has  affected  the  fate  of  Russia.  The 
Greek  Church,  whilst  excluding  Roman  Catholic  ci\alization,  exerted 
at  the  same  time  a  powerful  jDOsitive  influence  on  the  historical  devel- 
opment of  the  nation. 

The  Church  of  the  West  inherited  from  old  Rome  something  of  that 
logical,  juridical,  administrative  spirit  which  hr.d  created  the  Roman 
law,  and  something  of  that  ambition  and  dogged,  energetic  perseverance 
that  had  formed  nearly  the  whole  known  world  into  a  great  centralized 
empire.  The  Bishops  of  Rome  early  conceived  the  design  of  recon- 
structing that  old  Empire  on  a  new  basis,  and  have  ever  striven  to 
create  a  universal  Christian  theocratic  State,  in  which  kings  and  other 
civil  authorities  should  be  the  subordinates  of  Christ's  Vicar  upon 
earth.  The  Eastern  Church,  on  the  contrary,  has  remained  true  to 
her  Byzantine  traditions,  and  has  never  dreamed  of  such  lofty  preten- 
sions. Accustomed  to  lean  on  the  civil  power,  she  has  always  been 
content  to  play  a  secondary  part,  and  has  never  strenuously  resisted 
the  formation  of  national  churches. 

For  about  two  centuries  after  the  introduction  of  Christianity — 
from  988  till  1240 — Russia  formed,  ecclesiastically  speaking,  part  of 
the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople.  The  metropolitans  and  the  Bishops 
were  Greeks  by  birth  and  education,  and  the  ecclesiastical  administra- 
tion was  guided  and  controlled  by  the  Byzantine  Patriarchs.  But 
from  the  time  of  the  Tartar  invasion,  when  the  communications  with 
Constantinople  became  more  difficult,  and  educated  native  priests  had 
became  more  numerous,  this  complete  dependence  on  the  Patriarch 
ceased.  The  Princes  gradually  arrogated  to  themselves  tlie  right  of 
choosing  the  Metropolitan  of  Kiev — who  was  at  that  time  the  chief 
ecclesiastical  dignitary  in  Russia — and  merely  sent  their  nominees  to 


THE   NATIONAL    CHURCH.  \Tl 

Constantinople  for  consecration.  About  1448  this  formality  came  to 
be  dispensed  with,  and  the  Metropolitan  was  commonly  consecrated  by 
a  council  of  Russian  bishops.  A  further  step  in  the  direction  of  eccle- 
siastical autonomy  was  taken  in  1589,  when  the  Czar  succeeded  in  pro- 
curing the  consecration  of  a  Russian  Patriarch,  equal  in  dignity  and 
authority  to  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Jerusalem,  Autioch,  and 
Alexandria. 

In  all  matters  of  external  form  the  Patriarch  of  Moscow  was  a  very 
important  personage.  He  exercised  a  considerable  influence  in  civil 
as  well  as  ecclesiastical  affairs,  bore  the  ofhcial  title  of  "  great  lord," 
which  had  previously  been  reserved  for  the  civil  head  of  the  State,  and 
habitually  received  from  the  people  scarcely  less  veneration  than  the 
Czar  himself.  But  in  reality  he  possessed  very  little  independent 
power.  The  Czar  was  the  real  ruler  in  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  in  civil 
affairs. 

The  Russian  Patriarchate  came  to  an  end  in  the  time  of  Peter  the 
Great.  Peter  wished  among  other  things  to  reform  the  ecclesiastical 
administration,  and  to  introduce  into  his  country  many  novelties  which 
the  majority  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  people  regarded  as  heretical ;  and 
he  clearly  perceived  that  a  bigoted,  energetic  Patriarch  might  throw 
considerable  obstacles  in  his  way,  and  cause  him  infinite  annoyance. 
Though  such  a  Patriarch  might  be  deposed  without  any  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  the  canonical  formalities,  the  operation  would  necessarily  be 
attended  with  great  trouble  and  loss  of  time.  Peter  was  no  friend  of 
roundabout,  tortuous  methods,  and  preferred  to  remove  the  difficulty 
in  his  usual  violent  fashion.  When  the  Patriarch  Adrian  died,  the 
customary  short  interregnum  was  prolonged  for  twenty  years,  and 
when  the  people  had  thus  become  accustomed  to  having  no  Patriarch, 
it  was  announced  that  no  more  Patriarchs  would  be  elected.  Their 
place  was  supplied  by  an  ecclesiastical  council  or  Synod,  in  which,  as  a 
contemporary  explained,  "  the  mainspring  was  Peter's  power,  and  the 
pendulum  his  understanding."  The  great  autocrat  justly  considered 
that  such  a  council  could  be  much  more  easily  managed  than  a  stub- 
born Patriarch,  and  the  wisdom  of  the  measure  has  been  duly  appre- 
ciated by  succeeding  sovereigns.  Though  the  idea  of  reestablishing 
the  Patriarchate  has  more  than  once  been  raised,  it  has  never  been 
carried  into  execution.  The  Holy  Synod  remains,  and  is  likely  to 
remain,  the  highest  ecclesiastical  authority. 


128  THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH. 

But  the  Emperor  ?  What  is  his  relation  to  the  Synod  and  to  the 
Church  in  general? 

This  is  a  question  about  which  zealous  Orthodox  Russians  are  ex- 
tremely sensitive.  If  a  foreigner  ventures  to  hint  in  their  presence 
that  the  Emperor  seems  to  have  a  considerable  influence  in  the  Church, 
he  may  inadvertently  produce  a  little  outburst  of  patriotic  warmth 
and  virtuous  indignation.  The  truth  is  that  many  Russians  have  a 
pet  theory  on  this  subject,  aud  have  at  the  same  time  a  dim  conscious- 
ness that  the  theory  is  not  quite  in  accordance  with  reality.  They 
hold  theoretically  that  the  Orthodox  Church  has  no  "Head"  but 
Christ,  and  is  in  some  peculiar,  undefined  sense  entirely  independent 
of  all  terrestrial  authority.  In  this  respect  it  is  often  compared  with 
the  Anglican  Church,  and  the  comparison  is  made  a  theme  for  semi- 
religious,  semi-patriotic  exultation,  which  finds  expression  not  only  in 
conversation,  but  also  in  the  literature.  Ivhoraiakuf,  for  instance,  in 
one  of  his  most  vigorous  poems,  predicts  that  God  will  one  day  take 
the  destiny  of  the  world  out  of  the  hands  of  England  in  order  to  give 
it  to  Russia,  and  he  adduces  as  one  of  the  reasons  for  this  transfer  the 
fact  that  England  "has  chained,  with  sacrilegious  hand,  the  Church 
of  God  to  the  pedestal  of  the  vain  earthly  power."  So  far  the  theory. 
As  to  the  facts,  it  is  unquestionable  that  the  Church  enjoys  much  more 
liberty  in  England  than  in  Russia,  and  that  the  Czar  exercises  a  much 
greater  influence  in  ecclesiastical  aflTairs  than  the  Queen  and  Parlia- 
ment. All  who  know  the  internal  history  of  Russia  are  aware  that 
the  Government  does  not  draw  a  clear  line  of  distinction  between  the 
temporal  and  the  spiritual,  and  that  it  occasionally  uses  the  ecclesias- 
tical organization  for  political  purposes. 

What,  then,  are  the  relations  between  Church  and  State? 

To  avoid  confusion,  we  must  carefully  distinguish  between  the 
Eastern  Orthodox  Church  as  a  whole,  and  that  section  of  it  which  is 
known  as  the  Russian  Church. 

The  Eastern  Orthodox  Church  (or  Greek  Orthodox  Church)  is, 
properly  speaking,  a  confederation  of  independent  churches  without 
any  central  authority — a  unity  founded  ou  the  possession  of  a  common 
dogma  and  on  the  theoretical  but  now  unrealizable  possibility  of 
holding  Ecumenical  Councils.  The  Russian  National  Church  is  one 
of  the  members  of  this  ecclesiastical  confederation.  In  matters  of 
faith,  it  is  bound  by  the  decisions  of  the  ancient  Ecumenical  Councils, 


THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH. 


129 


Light  House  on  the  Black  Sea.  inear  the  Bosphorus. 


but  in  all  other  respects  it  enjoys  complete  independence  and  auto- 
nomy. 

In  relation  to  the  Orthodox  Church  as  a  whole,  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  is  nothing  more  than  a  simple  member,  and  can  no  more 
interfere  with  its  dogmas  or  ceremonial  than  a  King  of  Italy  or  an 
Emperor  of  the  French  could  modify  Roman  Catholic  theology ;  but 
in  relation  to  the  Russian  National  Church  his  position  is  peculiar. 
He  is  described  in  one  of  the  fundamental  laws  as  "the  supreme 
defender  and  preserver  of  the  dogmas  of  the  dominant  faith,"  and 
immediately  afterwards  it  is  said,  "  the  autocratic  power  acts  in  the 
ecclesiastical  administration  by  means  of  the  most  Holy  Governing 
Synod,  created  by  it."  This  describes  very  fairly  the  relations  between 
the  Emperor  and  the  Church.  He  is  merely  the  defender  of  the 
dogmas,  and  cannot  in  the  least  modify  them ;  but  he  is  at  the  same 
time  the  chief  administrator,  and  uses  the  Synod  as  an  instrument. 

Some  ingenious  people  who  wish  to  prove  that  the  creation  of  the 
Synod  was  not  an  innovation,  represent  the  institution  as  a  resuscita- 
tion of  the  ancient  Local  Councils ;  but  this  view  is  utterly  untenable. 
9 


130  THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH. 

The  Synod  is  not  a  council  of  deputies  from  various  sections  of  the 
Church,  but  a  permanent  college,  or  ecclesiastical  senate,  the  members 
of  which  are  appointed  and  dismissed  by  the  Emperor  as  he  thinks 
fit.  It  has  no  independent  legislative  authority,  for  its  legislative 
projects  do  not  become  law  till  they  have  received  the  Imperial  sanc- 
tion ;  and  they  are  always  published,  not  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
but  in  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Power.  Even  in  matters  of  simple 
administration  it  is  not  independent,  for  all  its  resolutions  require  the 
consent  of  the  Procureur,  a  layman  nominated  by  his  Majesty.  In 
theory  this  functionary  protests  only  against  those  resolutions  which 
are  not  in  accordance  with  the  civil  law  of  the  country ;  but  as  he 
alone  has  the  right  to  address  the  Emperor  directly  on  ecclesiastical 
concerns,  and  as  all  communications  between  the  Emperor  and  the 
Synod  must  pass  through  his  hands,  he  possesses  in  reality  consider- 
able power.  Besides  this,  he  can  always  influence  the  individual 
members  by  holding  out  prospects  of  advancement  and  decorations, 
and  if  this  device  fails,  he  can  make  the  refractory  members  retire, 
and  fill  up  their  places  with  men  of  more  pliable  disposition.  A 
council  constituted  in  this  way  cannot,  of  course,  display  much  inde- 
pendence of  thought  or  action,  especially  in  a  country  like  Eussia, 
where  no  one  ventures  to  oppose  openly  the  Imperial  will. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  the  Russian  ecclesiastics 
regard  the  Imperial  authority  with  jealousy  or  dislike.  They  are  all 
most  loyal  subjects,  and  warm  adherents  of  autocracy.  Those  ideas 
of  ecclesiastical  independence  which  are  so  common  in  Western  Europe, 
and  that  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  civil  power  which  animates  the 
Roman  Catholic  clergy,  are  entirely  foreign  to  their  minds.  If  a 
bishop  sometimes  complains  to  an  intimate  friend  that  he  has  been 
brought  to  St.  Petersburg  and  made  a  member  of  the  Synod,  merely 
to  append  his  signature  to  official  pai)ers  and  to  give  his  consent  to 
foregone  conclusions,  his  displeasure  is  directed,  not  against  the  Em- 
peror, but  against  the  Procureur.  He  is  full  of  loyalty  and  devotion 
to  the  Czar,  and  has  no  desire  to  see  his  Mnjesty  exchided  from  all 
influence  in  ecclesiastical  affairs ;  but  he  feels  saddened  and  humiliated 
when  he  finds  that  the  whole  government  of  the  Church  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  lay  functionary,  who  may  be  a  military  man,  and  who 
certainly  looks  at  all  matters  from  a  layman's  point  of  view. 

A  foreigner  who  hears  ecclesiastics  grumble  or  laymen  express  dis- 


THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH.  131 

satisfaction  with  the  existing  state  of  things  is  apt  to  imagine  that  a 
secret  struggle  is  going  on  between  Church  and  State,  and  that  a 
party  favorable  to  Disestablishment  is  at  present  being  formed.  In 
reality  there  is  no  such  struggle  and  no  such  party.  Russians  propose 
and  discuss  every  conceivable  kind  of  political  and  social  reforms,  but 
they  never  speak  about  disestablishing  the  Church.  Indeed,  we  do 
not  know  how  the  idea  could  be  expressed  in  Russian,  except  by  a 
lengthy  circumlocution.  So  long  as  the  autocratic  power  exists,  no 
kind  of  administration  can  be  exempted  from  Imperial  control. 

This  close  connection  between  Church  and  State  and  the  thoroughly 
national  character  of  the  Russian  Church  is  well  illustrated  by  the 
history  of  the  local  ecclesiastical  administration.  The  civil  and  the 
ecclesiastical  administration  have  always  had  the  same  character  and 
have  always  been  modified  by  the  same  influences.  The  terrorism 
which  was  largely  used  by  the  Muscovite  Czars  and  brought  to  a 
climax  by  Peter  the  Great  appeared  equally  in  both.  In  the  episcopal 
circulars,  as  in  the  Imperial  ukases,  we  find  frequent  mention  of 
"  most  cruel  corporal  punishment,"  "  cruel  punishment  with  whips,  so 
that  the  delinquent  and  others  may  not  acquire  the  habit  of  practising 
such  insolence,"  and  much  more  of  the  same  kind.  And  these  terribly 
severe  measures  were  sometimes  directed  against  very  venial  offences. 
The  Bishop  of  Vologda,  for  instance,  in  1748  decrees  "  cruel  corporal 
punishment"  against  priests  who  wear  coarse  and  ragged  clothes ;  and 
the  records  of  the  Consistorial  courts  contain  abundant  proof  that  such 
decrees  were  rigorously  executed.  When  Catherine  II.  introduced  a 
more  humane  spirit  into  the  civil  administration,  corporal  punishment 
was  at  once  abolished  in  the  Consistorial  courts,  and  the  procedure 
was  modified  according  to  the  accepted  maxims  of  civil  jurisprudence. 
But  we  will  not  weary  the  reader  with  tiresome  historical  details. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great  downwards, 
the  character  of  all  the  more  energetic  sovereigns  is  reflected  in  the 
history  of  the  ecclesiastical  administration. 

Each  province,  or  "  governmeut,"  forms  a  diocese,  and  the  bishop, 
like  the  civil  governor,  has  a  council  which  theoretically  controls  his 
power,  but  practically  has  no  controlling  influence  whatever.  The 
Consistorial  council,  which  has  in  the  theory  of  ecclesiastical  procedure 
a  very  imposing  appearance,  is  in  reality  the  bishop's  chancellerie,  and 
its  members  are  little  more  than  secretaries,  whose  chief  object  is  to 


132  THE  NATIONAL   CHURCH. 

make  themselves  agreeable  to  their  superior.  And  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  so  long  as  they  remain  what  they  ai:^,  the  less  power  they 
possess,  the  better  it  will  be  for  those  who  have  the  misfortune  to  be 
under  their  jurisdiction.  The  higher  dignitaries  have  at  least  larger 
aims  and  a  certain  consciousness  of  the  dignity  of  their  position ;  but 
the  lower  officials,  who  have  no  such  healthy  restraints  and  receive 
ridiculously  small  salaries,  grossly  misuse  the  little  authority  which 
they  possess,  and  habitually  pilfer  and  extort  in  the  most  shameless 
manner.  The  Consistories  are  in  fact  what  the  public  offices  were  in 
the  time  of  Nicholas. 

The  ecclesiastical  administration  is  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
monks,  or  "  Black  Clergy,"  as  they  are  commonly  termed,  who  form 
a  large  and  influential  class. 

The  monks  who  first  settled  in  Russia  were  men  of  the  earnest, 
ascetic,  missionary  type.  Filled  with  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls,  they  took  little  or  no  thought  for  the 
morrow,  and  devoutly  believed  that  their  Heavenly  Father,  without 
whose  knoAvledge  no  sparrow  falls  to  the  ground,  would  provide  for 
their  humble  wants.  Poor,  clad  in  rags,  eating  the  most  simple  fare, 
and  ever  ready  to  share  what  they  had  with  any  one  poorer  than  them- 
selves, they  performed  faithfully  and  earnestly  the  work  which  their 
Master  had  given  them  to  do.  But  this  ideal  of  monastic  life  soon 
gave  way  to  pi-actices  less  simple  and  severe.  By  the  liberal  donations 
and  bequests  of  the  faithful  the  monasteries  became  rich  in  gold,  in 
silver,  in  precious  stones,  and  above  all  in  land  and  serfs.  Troitsa, 
for  instance,  possessed  at  one  time  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
serfs,  and  a  proportionate  amount  of  land,  and  it  is  said  that  at  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century  more  than  a  fourth  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion had  fallen  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church.  Many  of  the 
monasteries  engaged  in  commerce,  and  the  monks  were  the  most 
intelligent  merchants  of  the  country. 

During  the  last  century  the  Church  lands  were  secularized,  and  the 
serfs  of  the  Church  became  serfs  of  the  State.  This  was  a  severe  blow 
for  the  monasteries,  but  it  did  not  prove  fatal,  as  many  people  predicted. 
Some  monasteries  were  abolished  and  others  were  reduced  to  extreme 
poverty,  but  many  survived  and  prospered.  These  could  no  longer 
possess  serfs,  but  they  had  still  three  sources  of  revenue :  a  limited 
amount   of  real  property,  government  subsidies,  and  the  voluntary 


THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH. 


133 


Princess  of  Montenegro. 


134'  THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH. 

offerings  of  the  faithful.  At  present  there  are  about  five  hundred 
monastic  establishments,  and  the  great  majority  of  them,  though  not 
wealthy,  have  revenues  more  than  sufficient  to  satisfy  all  the  require- 
ments of  an  ascetic  life. 

Thus  in  Russia,  as  in  "Western  Europe,  the  history  of  monastic 
institutions  is  composed  of  three  chapters,  which  may  be  briefly 
entitled :  asceticism  and  missionary  enterprise ;  wealth,  luxury,  and 
corruption;  secularization  of  property  and  decline.  But  between 
Eastern  and  Western  monasticism  there  is  at  least  one  marked  differ- 
ence. The  monasticism  of  the  West  made  at  various  epochs  of  its 
history  a  vigorous,  spontaneous  effort  at  self-regeneration,  which  found 
expression  in  the  foundation  of  separate  orders,  each  of  which  proposed 
to  itself  some  special  aim — some  special  sphere  of  usefulness.  In 
Russia  we  find  no  similar  phenomenon.  Here  the  monasteries  never 
deviated  from  the  rules  of  St.  Basil,  which  restrict  the  members  to 
religious  ceremonies,  prayer,  and  contemplation.  From  time  to  time 
a  solitary  individual  raised  his  voice  against  the  prevailing  abuses,  or 
retired  from  his  monastery  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
ascetic  solitude ;  but  neither  in  the  monastic  population  as  a  whole, 
nor  in  any  particular  monastery,  do  we  find  at  any  time  a  spontaneous, 
vigorous  movement  toward  reform.  During  the  last  two  hundred 
years  reforms  have  certainly  been  effected,  but  they  have  all  been  the 
work  of  the  civil  power,  and  in  the  realization  of  them  the  monks 
have  shown  little  more  than  the  virtue  of  resignation.  Here,  aa 
elsewhere,  we  have  evidence  of  that  inertness,  apathy,  and  want  of 
spontaneous  vigor  which  form  one  of  the  most  characteristic  traits  of 
Russian  national  life.  In  this,  as  in  other  departments  of  national 
activity,  the  spring  of  action  has  lain  not  in  the  people  but  in  the 
Government. 

If  there  is  anything  that  may  be  called  party-feeling  in  the  Russian 
Church,  it  is  the  feeling  of  hostility  which  exists  between  the  While 
and  the  Black  Clergy — that  is  to  say,  between  the  parish  priests  and 
the  monks.  The  parish  priests  consider  it  very  hard  that  they  should 
have  nearly  all  the  laborious  duties  and  none  of  the  honors  of  their 
profession.  The  monks,  on  the  other  hand,  look  on  the  parish  priest 
as  a  kind  of  ecclesiastical  half-caste,  and  think  that  he  ought  to  obey 
his  superiors  without  grumbling. 

This  antagonism,  together  with  the  general  enthusiasm  for  every 


THE  NATIONAL  CHURCH.  135 

species  of  reform  which  has  characterized  the  present  reign,  has  pro- 
duced a  certain  appearance  of  movement  in  the  Kussian  clerical  world, 
and  has  induced  some  sanguine  persons  to  believe  that  there  is  a 
movement  in  the  deep  waters,  and  that  the  Church  is  about  to  throw 
off  her  venerable  lethargy.  Such  expectations  cannot  be  entertained 
by  any  one  who  has  studied  carefully  and  dispassionately  her  past 
history  and  present  condition.  Anything  at  all  resembling  what  we 
understand  by  a  religious  revival  is  in  flagrant  contradiction  of  all  her 
traditions.  Immobility  and  passive  resistance  to  external  influences 
have  always  been,  and  are  still,  her  fundamental  principles  of  conduct. 
She  prides  herself  on  being  above  terrestrial  influences.  During  the 
last  two  centuries  Russia  has  undergone  an  uninterrupted  series  of 
profound  modifications — political,  intellectual,  and  moral — but  the 
spirit  of  the  National  Church  has  remained  unchanged.  The  modifica- 
tions that  have  been  made  in  her  administrative  organization  have  not 
affected  her  inner  nature.  In  spirit  and  character  she  is  now  what 
she  was  under  the  Patriarchs  in  the  time  of  the  Muscovite  Czars, 
holding  fast  to  the  promise  that  no  jot  or  tittle  shall  pass  from  the  law 
till  all  be  fulfilled.  To  all  that  is  said  about  the  requirements  of 
modern  life  and  modern  science  she  turns  a  deaf  ear.  Partly  from  the 
predominance  which  she  gives  to  the  ceremonial  element,  partly  from 
the  fact  that  her  chief  aim  is  to  preserve  unmodified  the  doctrine  and 
ceremonial  as  determined  by  the  early  Ecumenical  Councils,  and  partly 
from  the  low  state  of  general  culture  among  the  clergy,  she  has  ever 
remained  outside  of  the  intellectual  movements.  The  attemj^ts  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  to  develop  the  traditional  dogmas  by  definition 
and  deduction,  and  the  efforts  of  the  Protestant  Churches  to  reconcile 
their  teaching  with  progressive  science  and  the  ever-varying  intel- 
lectual currents  of  the  time,  are  alike  foreign  to  her  nature.  Hence 
she  has  produced  no  profound  theological  treatises  conceived  in  a 
philosophical  spirit,  and  has  made  no  attempt  to  combat  the  spirit  of 
infidelity  in  its  modern  forms.  Profoundly  convinced  that  her  position 
is  impregnable,  she  has  "  let  the  nations  rave,"  and  scarcely  deigned 
to  cast  a  glance  at  their  intellectual  and  religious  struggles.  In  a 
word,  she  is  "  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it." 

If  we  wish  to  see  represented  in  a  visible  form  the  peculiar  charac- 
teristics of  the  Russian  Church,  we  have  only  to  glance  at  Russian 
religious  art,  and  compare  it  with  that  of  Western  Europe.     In  the 


136 


THE  NATIONAL   CHURCH. 


Fort  Borneo,  Black  Sea. 


West,  from  the  time  of  the  Renaissance  downwards,  religious  art  has 
kept  pace  with  the  intellectual  development.  Gradually  it  emancipated 
itself  from  archaic  forms  and  childish  symbolism,  converted  the  lifeless 
typical  figures  into  living  individuals,  lit  up  their  dull  eyes  and 
expressionless  faces  with  human  intelligence  and  human  feeling,  and 
finally  affected  archaeological  accuracy  in  costume  and  other  details. 
Thus  in  the  West  the  practiced  eye  can  at  once  decide  to  what  period 
a  religious  picture  belongs.  In  Russia,  on  the  contrary,  no  such 
development  has  taken  place  in  religious  art.  The  old  Byzantine 
forms  have  been  faithfully  and  rigorously  preserved,  and  we  can  see 
reflected  in  the  Icons — stiff,  archaic,  expressionless — the  immobility 
of  the  Eastern  Church  in  general,  and  of  the  Russian  Church  in 
particular. 

To  the  Roman  Catholic,  who  struggles  against  science  as  soon  as  it 
contradicts  traditional  conceptions,  and  to  the  Protestant,  who  strives 
to  bring  his  religious  beliefs  into  accordance  with  his  scientific  know- 
ledge, the  Russian  Church  may  seem  to  resemble  an  antediluvian 
petrifaction,  or  a  cumbrous  linc-of-battle  ship  that  has  been  long 
stranded — "  stuck  on  a  bank,  and  beaten  by  the  flood."     It  must  be 


THE  NATIONAL    CHURCH.  137 

confessed,  however,  that  the  serene  inactivity  for  which  she  is  distin- 
guished has  had  very  valuable  practical  consequences.  The  Russian 
clergy  have  neither  that  haughty,  aggressive  intolerance  which 
characterizes  their  Roman  Catholic  brethren,  nor  that  narrow-minded, 
bitter,  uncharitable,  sectarian  spirit  which  is  too  often  to  be  found 
among  Protestants.  They  allow  not  only  to  heretics,  but  also  to 
members  of  their  own  communion,  the  most  complete  intellectual 
freedom,  and  never  think  of  anathematizing  any  one  for  his  scientific 
or  unscientific  opinions.  All  that  they  demand  is  that  those  who 
who  have  been  born  within  the  pale  of  Orthodoxy  should  show  the 
Church  a  certain  nominal  allegiance ;  and  in  this  matter  of  allegiance 
they  are  by  no  means  very  exacting:  So  long  as  a  member  refrains 
from  openly  attacking  the  Church  and  from  passing  over  to  another 
confession,  he  may  entirely  neglect  all  religious  ordinances  and  publicly 
profess  scientific  theories  logically  inconsistent  with  any  kind  of 
religious  belief,  without  the  slightest  danger  of  incurring  ecclesiastical 
censure.  Until  recently,  it  is  true  all  Orthodox  Russians  were  obliged 
to  communicate  once  a  year,  under  pain  of  incurring  various  disagree- 
able consequences  of  a  temporal  nature ;  but  this  obligation  proceeded 
in  reality  from  the  civil  government,  and  the  priests,  in  so  far  as  they 
insisted  on  its  fulfillment,  were  actuated  by  pecuniary  rather  than 
religious  considerations.  In  short,  if  the  Russian  clergy  has  done 
little  for  the  advancement  of  science  and  enlightenment,  it  has  at  least 
done  nothing  to  suppress  them. 

This  apathetic  tolerance  may  be  partly  explained  by  the  national 
character,  but  it  is  at  the  same  time  to  some  extent  due  to  the  peculiar 
relations  between  Church  and  State.  The  Government  vigilantly 
protects  the  Church  from  attack,  and  at  the  same  time  prevents  her 
from  attacking  her  enemies.  Hence  religious  questions  are  never 
discussed  in  the  press,  and  the  ecclesiastical  literature  is  all  historical, 
homiletic,  or  devotional.  The  authorities  allow  public  oral  discussions 
to  be  held  during  Lent  in  the  Kremlin  of  IVIoscow,  between  members 
of  the  State  Church  and  Old  Ritualists ;  but  these  debates  are  not 
theological  in  our  sense  of  the  term.  They  turn  exclusively  on  details 
of  Church  History,  and  on  the  minutiae  of  ceremonial  observance. 
The  disputants  discuss,  for  instance,  the  proper  position  of  the  fingers 
in  making  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  found  their  arguments,  not  on 
Scripture,  but  on  the  ancient  Icons,  the  decrees  of  the  Ecumenical 
Councils,  and  the  writings  of  the  Greek  Fathers. 


138  THE  PRIESTHOOD.  \ 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

Nearly  all  competent  authorities  have  admitted  that  the  present 
condition  of  the  Russian  clergy  is  highly  unsatisfactory,  and  that  the 
parish  priest  rarely  enjoys  the  respect  of  his  parishioners.     In  a  semi- 
official report  to  the  Grand  Duke  Constantine,  written  by  Mr.  Mel- 
nikof,  the  facts   are  stated   in   the  following  plain  language:  "The 
people  do  not  respect  the  clergy,  but  persecute  them  with  derision  and 
reproaches,  and  feel  them  to  be  a  burden.     In  nearly  all  the  popular 
comic  stories,  the  priest,  his  wife,  or  his  laborer  is  held  up  to  ridicule, 
and  in  all  the  proverbs  and  popular  sayings  where  the  clergy  are 
mentioned  it  is  always  with  derision.     The  people  shun  the  clergy, 
and  have  recourse  to  them  not  from  the  inner  impulse  of  conscience, 
but  from  necessity.     .     .     .     And  why  do  the  people  not  respect  the 
clergy  ?     Because  it  forms  a  class  apart ;  because,  having  received  a 
false  kind  of  education,  it  does  not  introduce  into  the  life  of  the  people 
the  teaching  of  the  Spirit,  but  remains  in  the  mere  dead  forms  of 
outward  ceremonial,  at  the  same  time  despising  these  forms  even  to 
blasphemy ;  because  the  clergy  itself  continually  presents  examples  of 
want  of  respect  to  religion,  and  transforms  the  service  of  God  into  a 
profitable  trade.     Can  the  people  respect  the  clergy  when  they  hear 
how  one  priest  stole  money  from  below  the  pillow  of  a  dying  man  at 
the  moment  of  confession,  how  another  was  publicly  dragged  out  of  a 
house  of  ill  fame,  how  a  third  christened  a  dog,  how  a  fourth,  whilst 
officiating  at  the  Easter  service  was  dragged  by  the  hair  from  the 
altar  by  the  deacon  ?     Is  it  possible  for  the  people  to  respect  priests 
who  spend  their  time  in  the  gin-shop,  write  fraudulent  petitions,  fight 
with  the  cross  in  their  hands,  and  abuse  each  other  in  bad  language 
at  the  altar  ?     One  might  fill  several  pages  with  examples  of  this  kind 
— in  each  instance  naming  time  and  place — without  overstepping  the 
boundaries  of  the  province  of  Nizhni-Novgorod.     Is  it  possible  for  the 
people  to  respect  the  clergy  when  they  see  everywhere  amongst  them 
simony,  carelessness  in  performing  the  religious  rites,  and  disorder  in 
adinioistering  the  sacrumeuta  ?    Is  it  possible  for  the  people  to  respect 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


139 


140  THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

the  clergy  when  they  see  that  truth  has  disappeared  from  it,  and  that 
the  consistories,  guided  in  their  decisions  not  by  rules,  but  by  personal 
friendship  and  bribery,  destroy  in  it  the  last  remains  of  truthfulness  ? 
If  we  add  to  all  this  the  false  certificates  which  the  clergy  give  to 
those  who  do  not  wish  to  partake  of  the  Eucharist,  the  dues  illegally 
extracted  from  the  Old  Ritualists,  the  conversion  of  the  altar  into  a 
source  of  revenue,  the  giving  of  churches  to  priests'  daughters  as  a 
dowry,  and  similar  phenomena,  the  question  as  to  whether  the  people 
can  respect  the  clergy  requires  no  answer." 

As  these  words  were  written  by  an  orthodox  Russian,  celebrated  for 
his  extensive  and  intimate  knowledge  of  Russian  provincial  life,  and 
were  addressed  in  all  seriousness  to  a  member  of  the  Imperial  family, 
we  may  safely  assume  that  they  contain  a  considerable  amount  of 
truth.  The  reader  must  not,  however,  imagine  that  all  Russian 
priests  are  of  the  kind  above  referred  to.  Many  of  them  are  honest, 
respectable,  well-intentioned  men,  who  conscientiously  fulfill  their 
humble  duties,  and  strive  hard  to  procure  a  good  education  for  their 
children.  If  they  have  less  learning,  culture,  and  refinement  than  the 
Roman  Catholic  priesthood,  they  have  at  the  same  time  infinitely  less 
fanaticism,  less  spiritual  pride,  and  less  intolerance  towards  the  adher- 
ents of  other  faiths.  Both  the  good  and  the  bad  qualities  of  the 
Russian  priesthood  at  the  present  time  can  be  easily  explained  by  its 
past  history,  and  by  certain  peculiarities  of  the  national  character. 

The  Russian  White  Clergy — that  is  to  say,  the  parish  priests,  as 
distinguished  from  the  monks,  who  are  called  the  Black  Clergy — have 
had  a  curious  history.  In  early  times  they  were  drawn  from  all  classes 
of  the  population,  and  freely  elected  by  the  parishioners.  When  a  man 
was  elected  by  the  popular  vote,  he  was  presented  to  the  Bishop,  and 
if  he  was  found  to  be  a  fit  and  proper  person  for  the  office,  he  was  at 
once  ordained.  But  very  soon  this  custom  fell  into  disuse.  The 
Bishops,  finding  that  many  of  the  candidates  presented  were  illiterate 
peasants,  gradually  assumed  the  right  of  appointing  the  priests,  with 
or  without  the  consent  of  the  parishioners  ;  and  their  choice  generally 
fell  on  the  sons  of  the  clergy  as  the  men  best  fitted  to  take  orders. 
The  creation  of  Bishops'  schools,  afterwards  called  seminaries,  in  which 
the  sons  of  the  clergy  were  educated,  naturally  led,  in  the  course  of 
time,  to  the  total  exclusion  of  the  other  classes.  At  the  same  time,  the 
policy  of  the  civil  Government  led  to  the  same  end.     Peter  the  Great 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


141 


laid  down  the  principle  that  every  subject  should  in  some  way  serve 
the  State — the  nobles  as  officers  in  the  army  or  navy,  or  as  officials  in 
the  civil  service ;  the  clergy  as  ministers  of  religion ;  and  the  lower 
classes  as  soldiers,  sailors,  or  tax-payers.  Of  these  three  classes,  the 
clergy  had  by  far  the  lightest  burdens  to  bear,  and  consequently  many 
nobles  and  peasants  would  willingly  have  entered  its  ranks.  But  this 
species  of  desertion  the  Government  could  not  tolerate,  and  accordingly 
the  priesthood  was  surrounded  by  a  legal  barrier  which  prevented  all 
outsiders  from  entering  it.  Thus  by  the  combined  efforts  of  the  eccle- 
siastical and  the  civil  Administration  the  clergy  became  a  separate 
class  or  caste,  legally  and  actually  incapable  of  mingling  with  the 
other  classes  of  the  population. 

The  simple  fact  that  the  clergy  became  an  exclusive  caste,  with  a 
peculiar  character,  peculiar  habits,  and  peculiar  ideals,  would  in  itself 
have  had  a  prejudicial  influence  on  the  priesthood ;  but  this  was  not 
all.  The  caste  increased  in  numbers  by  the  process  of  natural  repro- 
duction much  more  rai:)idly  than  the  offices  to  be  filled,  so  that  the  sup- 
ply of  priests  and  deacons  soon  far  exceeded  the  demand ;  and  the  dis- 
proportion between  supply  and  demand  became  every  year  greater  and 
greater.  Thus  was  formed  an  ever-increasing  clerical  Proletariate, 
which — as  is  always  the  case  with  a  Proletariate  of  any  kind — gravi- 
tated towards  the  towns.  In  vain  the  Government  issued  ukases  pro- 
hibiting the  priests  from  quitting  their  places  of  domicile,  and  treated 
as  vagrants  and  runaways  those  who  disregarded  the  prohibition ;  in 
vain  successive  sovereigns  endeavored  to  diminish  the  number  of  these 
supernumeraries  by  drafting  them  wholesale  into  the  army.  In  Moscow, 
St.  Petersburg,  and  all  the  larger  towns,  the  cry  was  still,  "They 
come!"  Every  morning,  in  the  kremlin  of  Moscow,  a  large  crowd  of 
them  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  being  hired  to  officiate  in  the  private 
chapels  of  the  rich  nobles,  and  a  great  deal  of  hard  bargaining  took 
place  between  the  priests  and  the  lackeys  sent  to  hire  them — conducted 
in  the  same  spirit,  and  in  nearly  the  same  forms,  as  that  which  simul- 
taneously took  place  in  the  bazaar  close  by  between  extortionate  traders 
and  thrifty  housewives.  "  Listen  to  me,"  a  priest  would  say,  as  an 
ultimatum,  to  a  lackey  who  was  trying  to  beat  down  the  price  ;  "  if 
you  don't  give  me  seventy -five  kopeks  without  further  ado,  I'll  take  a 
bite  of  this  roll,  and  that  will  be  an  end  to  it!"  And  that  would  have 
been  an  end  to  the  proceedings,  for,  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Church, 


142  THE  PRIESTHOOD. 

a  priest  cannot  officiate  after  breaking  his  fast.  The  ultimatum,  how- 
ever, could  be  used  with  effect  only  to  country  servants  who  had 
recently  come  to  town.  A  sharp  lackey,  experienced  in  this  kind  of 
diplomacy,  would  have  laughed  at  the  threat,  and  replied  coolly,  "  Bite 
away,  Batuska ;  I  can  find  plenty  more  of  your  sort !" 

The  condition  of  the  priests  who  remained  in  the  villages  was  not 
much  better.  Those  of  them  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  find  places 
were  raised  at  least  above  the  fear  of  absolute  destitution,  but  their 
position  was  by  no  means  enviable.  They  received  little  consideration 
or  respect  from  the  peasantry,  and  still  less  from  the  nobles.  When 
the  church  was  situated  not  on  the  State  Demesnes,  but  on  a  private 
estate,  they  were  practically  under  the  power  of  the  proprietor — almost 
as  completely  as  his  serfs  ;  and  sometimes  that  power  was  exercised  in 
a  most  humiliating  and  shameful  way  We  have  heard,  for  instance, 
of  one  priest  who  was  ducked  in  the  pond  on  a  cold  winter  day  for  the 
amusement  of  the  proprietor  and  his  guests — choice  spirits,  of  rough, 
jovial  temperament ;  and  of  another  who,  having  neglected  to  take  off 
his  hat  as  he  passed  the  proprietor's  house,  was  put  into  a  barrel  and 
rolled  down  a  hill  into  a  river  at  the  bottom  ! 

In  citing  these  incidents,  we  do  not  at  all  mean  to  imply  that  they 
represent  the  relations  which  usually  existed  between  proprietors  and 
village  priests,  for  it  is  quite  true  that  wanton  cruelty  was  not  among 
the  ordinary  vices  of  Kussian  serf-owners.  The  object  in  mentioning 
the  incidents  is  to  show  how  a  brutal  proprietor — and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  there  were  not  a  few  brutal  individuals  in  the  class — could 
treat  a  priest  without  much  danger  of  being  called  to  account  for  his 
conduct.  Of  course  such  conduct  was  an  offence  in  the  eyes  of  the 
the  criminal  law ;  but  the  criminal  law  of  that  time  was  very  short- 
Bighted,  and  strongly  disposed  to  close  its  eyes  completely  when  the 
offender  was  an  influential  proprietor,  and  the  victim  merely  a  village 
priest.  Had  the  incidents  reached  the  ears  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas, 
he  would  probably  have  ordered  the  culprit  to  be  summarily  and 
eeverely  punished ;  but,  as  the  Kussian  proverb  has  it,  "  the  Heaven  is 
high,  and  the  Czar  is  fur  off."  A  village  priest  treated  in  this  barbar- 
ous way  could  have  little  hope  of  redress,  and,  if  he  were  a  prudent 
man,  he  would  make  no  attempt  to  obtain  it;  for  any  annoyance  which 
he  might  give  the  proprietor  by  complaining  to  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  would  be  sure  to  be  paid  back  to  him  with  interest  in  some 
indirect  way. 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


143 


The  Russian  New  Floating  Dock  at  Nicolaiff. 


The  sons  of  the  clergy  who  did  not  succeed  in  finding  regular  sacer- 
dotal employment  were  in  a  still  worse  position.  Many  of  them  served 
as  scribes  of  intermediate  officials  in  the  public  offices,  where  they  com- 
monly eked  out  their  scanty  salaries  by  unblushing  extortion  and  pil- 
fering. Those  who  did  not  succeed  in  gaining  even  modest  employ- 
ment of  this  kind  had  to  keep  off  starvation  by  less  lawful  means,  and 
not  unfrequently  found  their  way  into  the  prisons  or  to  Siberia. 

In  judging  of  the  Russian  priesthood  of  the  present  time,  we  must 
call  to  mind  this  severe  school  through  which  it  has  passed,  and  we 
must  also  take  into  consideration  the  spirit  which  has  been  for  centu- 
ries predominant  in  the  Eastern  Church — we  mean  the  strong  tendency 
both  in  the  clergy  and  in  the  laity  to  attribute  an  inordinate  import- 
ance to  the  ceremonial  element  of  religion.  Primitive  mankind  is 
everywhere  and  always  disposed  to  regard  religion  as  simply  a  mass  of 
mysterious  rites,  which  have  a  secret  magical  power  of  averting  evil  in 
this  world  and  securing  felicity  in  the  next.    To  this  general  rule  the 


;144  THE   PRIESTHOOD. 

Russian  peasantry  are  no  exception,  and  the  Russian  Church  has  not 
done  all  it  might  have  done  to  eradicate  this  conception  and  to  bring 
religion  into  closer  association  with  ordinary  morality.  Hence  such 
incidents  as  the  following  are  still  possible.  A  robber  kills  and  rifles 
a  traveller,  but  refrains  from  eating  a  piece  of  cooked  meat  which  he 
finds  in  the  cart,  because  it  happens  to  be  a  fast-day !  A  peasant  pre- 
pares to  rob  a  young  attacVe  of  the  Austrian  Embassy  in  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  ultimately  kills  his  victim,  but  before  going  to  the  house  he 
enters  a  church  and  commends  hig  undertaking  to  the  protection  of  the 
saints !  A  housebreaker,  when  in  the  act  of  robbing  a  church,  finds  it 
difficult  to  extract  the  jewels  from  an  Icon,  and  makes  a  vow  that  if  a 
certain  saint  assists  him  he  will  place  a  rouble's-worth  of  tapers  before 
the  saint's  image ! 

All  these  are  of  course  extreme  cases,  but  they  illustrate  a  tendency 
which  in  its  milder  forms  is  only  too  general  amongst  the  Russian 
people — the  tendency  to  regard  religion  as  a  mass  of  ceremonies  which 
have  a  magical  rather  than  a  spiritual  significance.  The  poor  woman 
who  kneels  at  a  religious  procession  in  order  that  the  Icon  may  be 
carried  over  her  head,  and  the  rich  merchant  who  invites  the  priest  to 
bring  some  famous  Icon  to  his  house,  illustrate  this  tendency  in  a  more 
harmless  way. 

According  to  a  popular  saying,  "  as  is  the  priest,  so  is  the  parish," 
and  the  converse  proposition  is  equally  true — as  is  the  parish,  so  is  the 
priest.  The  great  majority  of  priests,  like  the  great  majority  of  men 
in  general,  content  themselves  with  simply  striving  to  perform  what  is 
expected  of  them,  and  their  character  is  consequently  determined  to  a 
certain  extent  by  the  ideas  and  conceptions  of  their  parishioners.  This 
will  become  more  apparent  if  we  contrast  the  Russian  priest  with  the 
Protestant  pastor. 

According  to  Protestant  conceptions,  the  village  pastor  is  a  man  of 
grave  demeanor  and  exemplary  conduct,  and  possesses  a  certain  amount 
of  education  and  refinement.  He  ought  to  expound  weekly  to  his  flock, 
in  simple,  impressive  words,  the  great  truths  of  Christianity,  and  exhort 
his  hearers  to  walk  in  the  paths  of  righteousness.  Besides  this,  he  is 
expected  to  comfort  the  afflicted,  to  assist  the  needy,  to  counsel  those 
who  arc  harassed  with  doubts,  and  admonish  those  who  openly  stray 
from  the  narrow  path.  Such  is  the  ideal  in  the  popular  mind,  and 
nearly  all  pastors  seek  to  realize  it,  if  not  in  very  deed,  at  least  in  ap- 


THE  PRIESTHOOD-,  145 

pearance.  The  Russian  priest,  on  the  contrary,  has  no  such  ideal  set 
before  him  by  his  parishioners.  He  is  expected  merely  to  conform  to 
certain  observances  and  to  perform  punctiliously  the  rites  and  ceremo- 
nies prescribed  by  the  Church.  If  he  does  this  without  practising 
extortion,  his  parishioners  are  quite  satisfied.  He  rarely  preaches  or 
exhorts,  and  neither  has  nor  seeks  to  have  a  moral  influence  over  his 
flock.  There  are  occasional  instances  of  Russian  priests  who  approach 
what  we  have  termed  the  Protestant  ideal,  but  their  number  is  com- 
paratively small. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  Russian  people  are  in  a  certain  sense 
religious.  They  go  regularly  to  church  on  Sundays  and  holy  days, 
cross  themselves  repeatedly  when  they  pass  a  church  or  Icon,  take  the 
Holy  Communion  at  stated  seasons,  rigorously  abstain  from  animal 
food — not  only  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  but  also  during  Lent  and 
the  other  long  fasts — make  occasional  pilgrimages  to  holy  shrines,  and, 
in  a  word,  fulfill  punctiliously  all  the  ceremonial  observances  which 
they  suppose  necessary  to  salvation.  But  here  their  religiousness  ends. 
They  are  generally  profoundly  ignorant  of  religious  doctrine,  and  know 
little  or  nothing  of  Holy  Writ.  A  peasant,  it  is  said,  was  once  asked 
by  a  priest  if  he  could  name  the  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  and 
replied  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  "  How  can  one  not  know  that, 
Batushka  ?  Of  course  it  is  the  Saviour,  the  Mother  of  God,  and  Saint 
Nicholas  the  miracle-worker !"  That  answer  represents  fairly  enough 
the  theological  attainments  of  a  very  large  section  of  the  peasantry. 
The  anecdote  is  so  well  known  and  so  often  repeated  that  it  is  proba- 
bly an  invention,  but  it  is  not  a  calumny.  Of  theology  and  of  what 
Protestants  term  the  "  inner  religious  life,"  the  Russian  peasant  has  no 
conception.  For  him  the  ceremonial  part  of  religion  suffices,  and  he 
has  the  most  unbounded,  childlike  confidence  in  the  saving  efficacy  of 
the  rites  which  he  practices.  If  he  has  been  baptized  in  infancy,  has 
regularly  observed  the  fasts,  has  annually  partaken  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, and  has  just  confessed  and  received  extreme  unction,  he. feels 
death  approach  with  the  most  profound  tranquility.  He  is  tormented 
with  no  doubts  as  to  the  efficacy  of  faith  or  works,  and  has  no  fears 
that  his  past  life  may  possibly  have  rendered  him  unfit  for  eternal 
felicity.  Like  a  man  in  a  sinking  ship  who  has  buckled  on  his  life- 
preserver,  he  feels  perfectly  secure.  With  no  fear  for  the  future  and 
little  regret  for  the  present  or  the  past,  he  awaits  calmly  the  dread 
10 


146 


THE  PRIESTHOOD. 


Fortress  Kaviujeh,  on  the  Bosphorus. 


summons,  and  dies  with  a  resignation  which  a  Stoic  philosopher  might 
envy. 

In  the  above  paragraph  we  have  used  the  word  Icon,  and  perhaps 
the  reader  may  not  clearly  understand  the  word.  Let  us  explain  then, 
briefly,  what  an  Icon  is — a  very  necessary  explanation,  for  the  Icons 
play  an  important  part  in  the  religious  observances  of  the  Kussian 
people. 

Icons  are  pictorial  half-length  representations  of  the  Saviour,  of  the 
Madonna,  or  of  a  saint,  executed  in  archaic  Byzantine  style,  on  a  yel- 
low or  gold  ground,  and  varying  in  size  from  a  square  inch  to  several 
square  feet.  Very  often  the  whole  picture,  with  the  exception  of  the 
face  and  hands  of  the  figure,  is  covered  with  a  metal  plaque,  embossed 
so  as  to  represent  the  form  of  the  figure  and  the  drapery.  When  this 
plaque  is  not  used,  the  crown  and  costume  are  often  adorned  with 
pearls  and  other  precious  stones — sometimes  of  great  price. 

A  careful  examination  of  Icons  belonging  to  various  periods  leads 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  originally  simple  pictures,  and  that 
the  metallic  plaque  is  a  modern  innovation.     Tho  first  departure  from 


THE  PRIESTHOOD.  147 

purely  pictorial  representation  seems  to  have  been  the  habit  of  placing 
on  the  head  of  the  painted  figure  a  piece  of  ornamental  gold-work, 
sometimes  set  with  precious  stones,  to  represent  a  nimbus  or  a  crown. 
This  strange,  and  to  our  minds  barbarous,  method  of  combining  paint- 
ing with  haut-relief — if  such  a  term  may  be  applied  to  this  peculiar 
kind  of  decoration — was  afterwards  gradually  extended  to  the  various 
parts  of  the  costume,  until  only  the  face  and  hands  of  the  figure  re- 
mained visible,  when  it  was  found  convenient  to  unite  these  various 
ornaments  with  the  gilt  background  into  a  single  embossed  plate. 

In  respect  of  religious  significance,  Icons  are  of  two  kinds :  simple, 
and  miraculous  or  miracle-working  (tclivdoivorny).  The  former  are 
manufactured  in  enormous  quantities — chiefly  in  the  province  of 
Vladimir,  where  whole  villages  are  employed  in  this  kind  of  work — 
and  are  to  be  found  in  every  Russian  house,  from  the  hut  of  the 
peasant  to  the  palace  of  the  Emperor.  They  are  generally  placed 
high  up  in  a  corner  facing  the  door,  and  good  Orthodox  Christians  on 
entering  bow  in  that  direction,  making  at  the  same  time  the  sign  of 
the  cross.  Before  and  after  meals  the  same  short  ceremony  is  always 
performed.  On  the  eve  of  fete  days  a  small  lamp  is  kept  burning 
before  at  least  one  of  the  Icons  in  the  house. 

The  wonder-working  Icons  are  comparatively  few  in  number,  and 
are  always  carefully  preserved  in  a  church  or  chapel.  They  are 
commonly  believed  to  have  been  "  not  made  with  hands,"  and  to  have 
appeared  in  a  miraculous  way.  A  monk,  or  it  may  be  a  common 
mortal,  has  a  vision,  in  which  he  is  informed  that  he  may  find  a 
miraculous  Icon  in  such  a  place,  and  on  going  to  the  spot  indicated  he 
finds  it,  sometimes  buried,  sometimes  hanging  on  a  tree.  The  sacred 
treasure  is  then  removed  to  a  church,  and  the  news  spreads  like  wild- 
fire through  the  district.  Thousands  flock  to  prostrate  themselves 
before  the  heaven-sent  picture,  and  some  of  them  are  healed  of  their 
diseases — a  fact  that  plainly  indicates  its  miracle-working  power.  The 
whole  afiair  is  then  officially  reported  to  the  Most  Holy  Synod — the 
highest  ecclesiastical  authority  in  Russia  under  the  Emperor — in  order 
that  the  existence  of  the  miracle-working  power  may  be  fully  and 
regularly  proved.  The  official  recognition  of  the  fact  is  by  no  means 
a  mere  matter  of  form,  for  the  Synod  is  well  aware  that  wonder- 
working Icons  are  always  a  rich  source  of  revenue  to  the  monasteries 
where  they  are  kept,  and  that  zealous  Superiors  are  consequently  apt 


148  THE   PRIESTHOOD. 

in  such  cases  to  lean  to  tlie  side  of  credulity,  rather  than  that  of  over- 
severe  criticism.  A  regular  investigation  is  therefore  made,  and  the 
formal  recognition  is  not  granted  till  the  testimony  of  the  finder  is 
thoroughly  examined  and  the  alleged  miracles  duly  authenticated.  If 
the  recognition  is  granted,  the  Icon  is  treated  with  the  greatest  venera- 
tion, and  is  sure  to  be  visited  by  pilgrims  from  far  and  near. 

Some  of  the  most  revered  Icons — as,  for  instance,  the  Kazan  Madonna 
— have  annual  fete  days  instituted  in  their  honor ;  or,  more  correctly 
speaking,  the  anniversary  of  their  miraculous  appearance  is  observed 
as  a  religious  holiday.  A  few  of  them  have  an  additional  title  to 
popular  respect  and  veneration :  that  of  being  intimately  associated 
with  great  events  in  the  national  history.  The  Vladimir  Madonna, 
for  example,  once  saved  Moscow  from  the  Tartars;  the  Smolensk 
Madonna  accompanied  the  army  in  the  glorious  campaign  against 
Kapoleon  in  1812;  and  when  in  that  year  it  was  known  in  Moscow 
that  the  French  were  advancing  on  the  city,  the  people  wished  the 
Metropolitan  to  take  the  Iberian  Madonna,  which  may  still  be  seen 
near  one  of  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin,  and  to  lead  them  out  armed  with 
hatchets  against  the  enemy. 

Though  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  parochial  clergy  is 
generally  recognized  by  the  educated  classes,  very  few  people  take  the 
trouble  to  consider  seriously  how  it  might  be  improved.  During  the 
Keform  enthusiasm  which  raged  at  the  commencement  of  the  present 
reign,  ecclesiastical  affairs  received  almost  no  attention ;  and  at  present, 
when  the  storm  has  passed  and  apathy  prevails,  they  receive  still  less. 
The  truth  is  that  educated  Russians,  as  a  rule,  take  no  interest  in 
Church  matters,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  so  very  "far  advanced" 
that  they  regard  religion  in  all  its  forms  as  an  old-world  superstition, 
which  should  be  allowed  to  die  as  tranquilly  as  possible.  The  Govern- 
ment has,  however,  done  something  towards  improving  the  condition 
of  the  parish  priests.  Many  of  the  barriers  which  tended  to  make  the 
priesthood  a  caste  have  been  broken  down,  and  hundreds  of  priests' 
sons  are  now  making  their  way  in  the  Civil  Service,  in  the  Judicial 
Administration,  as  Professors  in  the  Universities,  and  in  various 
industrial  undertakings.  In  addition  to  this,  an  attempt  is  at  present 
being  made  to  diminish  the  number  of  parishes,  and  thereby  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  incumbents.  These  changes  will,  we 
believe,  ultimately  produce  beneficial  results. 


THE  PRIESTHOOD 


149 


150  THE   GRAND   TOUR. 

CHAPTER  VIII, 

THE  GRAND  TOUR. 

If  we  were  asked  to  describe  Russia  by  a  single  epithet  we  should 
say  that  it  was  flat.  Flatness  is  by  far  the  most  prominent  feature  of 
the  country  which  stretches  from  the  Polar  Ocean  to  the  Black  Sea 
and  the  Caspian.  One  may  travel  many  thousand  miles  by  road  and 
rail  in  that  region  without  ever  going  up  a  steep  hill  or  passing 
through  a  tunnel.  If  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  discover  a  hill  or 
hillock  and  takes  the  trouble  of  ascending  it,  he  is  pretty  sure  to  find 
that  the  horizon  on  all  sides  is  a  straight  line.  Some  of  the  rivers,  it 
is  true,  have  on  the  one  side  a  high  bank,  and,  as  you  look  up  at  it 
from  the  deck  of  a  steamer  or  small  boat,  you  may  be  disposed  to  call 
it  a  low  range  of  hills ;  but  if  you  go  to  the  top  you  will  probably 
discover  that  you  have  been  the  victim  of  an  optical  delusion.  What 
seemed  a  range  of  hills  turns  out  to  be  simply  the  edge  of  a  table-land 
stretching  away  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  the  secluded  little 
valley  which  you  expected  to  see  behind  the  summit  has  no  existence 
in  reality. 

After  flatness,  the  most  prominent  characteristic  of  Russian  scenery 
is  monotony.  Russians  often  boast  of  the  unexampled  variety  of 
scenery,  climate,  vegetation,  and  races  which  their  country  contains, 
and  all  they  say  on  this  point  may  be  literally  true.  A  land  which 
stretches  from  the  Arctic  circle  to  the  latitude  of  Rome  cannot  be 
monotonous  to  the  eye  of  the  geographer,  botanist,  zoologist,  and 
ethnologist,  when  they  sit  in  their  study  and  survey  the  whole  on  a 
map.  But  it  is  not  with  such  wide-seeing  people  that  we  have  at 
present  to  do.  The  ordinary  traveller  who  uses  his  own  eyes  and 
employs  merely  the  ordinary  means  of  locomotion  cannot  see  more 
than  a  few  square  miles  at  a  time,  and  cannot  jump  at  a  bound  from 
Archangel  to  Tiflis.  Even  if  he  travels  by  express  trains,  at  the  rate 
of  five-and-twenty  miles  an  hour,  he  will  probably  after  an  hour  or 
two  begin  to  long  for  a  newspaper  or  a  novel ;  and,  if  he  sums  up  his 
impressions  at  the  end  of  the  day's  journey,  he  will  find  very  little 
variety  in  them.    The  truth  is  that  in  order  to  get  the  impression  of 


THE    GRAND    TOUR.  151 

variety  we  must  bring  the  various  things  together.  It  is  of  no  use  to 
be  told  that  within  the  limits  of  the  Empire  there  are  ice-fields  and 
luxuriant  gardens,  forests  and  prairies,  reindeer  and  antelopes,  cran- 
berries and  vines,  fur-covered  Samoyeds  and  swarthy  Georgians,  the 
stern  grandeur  of  the  Arctic  regions  and  the  soft  beauty  of  the  sunny 
south.  We  do  not  feel  in  travelling  the  variety  which  these  words 
suggest.  A  hundred  thousand  people,  when  scattered  over  a  large 
area,  do  not  constitute  a  crowd. 

On  the  whole,  then,  it  may  be  said  that  Russia  is  not  a  country  for 
tourists.  Even  when,  in  the  course  of  time,  it  comes  to  be  supplied 
with  good  roads,  comfortable  hotels,  and  all  the  other  conveniences  of 
civilized  nomadic  life,  it  will  never  be  part  of  "  the  playground  of 
Europe."  Still,  it  ought  not  to  be  excluded  entirely  from  the  tourist 
world.  If  a  route  be  chosen  so  as  to  include  the  most  interesting 
parts  and  to  omit  as  far  as  possible  the  regions  in  which  flatness  and 
monotony  reign  supreme,  a  summer  vacation  may  be  spent  both  pleas- 
antly and  profitably  in  the  dominions  of  the  Czar.  We  propose  now 
to  make  such  a  tour  in  the  European  part  of  the  Empire ;  and,  if  the 
reader  will  kindly  accompany  us,  we  shall  endeavor  to  fulfill  the  duties 
of  guide  and  interpreter. 

Arriving  in  the  Empire  of  the  Czar  by  way  of  Finland,  we  have 
some  difficulty  in  believing  that  we  are  in  Russia,  for  we  hear  no 
Russian  spoken  around  us.  In  the  towns  the  common  language  is 
Swedish,  and  in  the  country  the  people  commonly  speak  Finnish,  a 
very  euphonious  language  of  the  so-called  Turanian  family.  We  do 
not  require  to  go  far  to  discover  that  the  institutions  are  as  little 
Russian  as  the  language.  Having  regularly  read  the  newspapers 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  Eastern  Question,  we  know  that  Russia  is 
behind  the  Ottoman  Empire  in  having  no  Parliamentary  institutions ; 
but  Finland  has  evidently  already  had  its  Midhat  Pasha,  for  it 
possesses  both  a  Parliament  and  a  Constitution.  And  a  very  curious 
Parliament  it  is,  consisting  of  no  less  than  four  Chambers,  each  of 
which  is  composed  of  deputies  from  one  of  the  four  officially  recog- 
nized social  classes — the  Nobles,  the  Clergy,  the  Burghers,  and  the 
Peasantry.  For  ordinary  affairs  the  consent  of  three  of  the  chambers 
is  sufficient ;  but  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  fundamental  laws,  the 
rights  of  the  various  classes,  and  the  raising  of  new  taxes,  all  the  four 
Chambers   must   agree.     All    this   is  very   non-Russian,   and   shows 


152  THE   GRAND    TOUR. 

plainly  that  Finland,  though  officially  a  Eussian  province,  is  not  a 
part  of  Russia  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term.  "What  is  it,  then  ? 
We  "svill  endeavor  to  explain  the  anomaly. 

Finland  was  long  a  Swedish  province,  and  the  towns  are  still  thor- 
oughly saturated  with  the  Swedish  spirit.  In  1809  it  was  conquered 
by  Russia,  and  soon  afterwards  formally  annexed  to  the  Empire ;  but 
the  Emperor  of  that  time,  Alexander  I.,  instead  of  sweeping  away 
the  existing  institutions  and  putting  genuine  Russian  institutions  in 
their  stead,  endeavored  to  preserve  as  far  as  possible  what  actually 
existed,  and  adopted  the  title  of  Grand  Prince  of  Finland.  Hence 
arose  all  the  anomalies  which  now  exist.  Finland  enjoys  many  privi- 
leges which  it  ought  not  to  possess,  and  escapes  many  burdens  which 
it  ought  to  bear,  and,  consequently,  its  inhabitants  form  a  kind  of 
privileged  class  in  the  Empire.  Though  they  enjoy  all  the  protection 
afforded  to  Russian  subjects,  l)oth  at  home  and  abroad,  they  do  not 
contribute  to  the  expenses  of  diplomatic  and  consular  agents,  and, 
until  quite  recently,  gave  only  one  battalion  to  the  army  instead  of 
thirty  thousand  men,  as  they  ought  to  have  done.  They  have  their 
own  coinage,  their  own  post-office,  their  own  national  bank,  and  their 
own  custom-houses,  which  do  not  admit  many  kinds  of  Russian  goods. 
Above  all,  they  treat  Russians  who  live  amongst  them  not  as  masters, 
or  even  fellow-countrymen,  but  as  foreigners.  During  the  first  quarter 
of  the  present  century  the  Government,  it  is  true,  did  show  a  certain 
partiality  to  its  non-Russian  subjects.  It  not  only  preserved  the 
institutions  of  Finland  and  the  Baltic  Provinces,  but  gave  a  kind  of 
constitution  to  the  Poles,  and  accorded  many  valuable  privileges  to 
foreign  colonists  from  Germany  and  other  foreign  countries.  These 
measures  were  based  on  apparently  sound  considerations  of  State 
policy,  but  they  were  none  the  less  galling  to  the  self-respect  of 
genuine  Russians.  The  Russian  found  himself  less  privileged  than 
foreigners  in  his  own  country !  And  in  many  respects  the  system  did 
not  produce  the  desired  result.  The  Swedes  in  Finland  and  the 
Germans  in  the  Baltic  provinces  became  more  and  more  exclusive, 
and  resolutely  resisted  all  Russifying  influence ;  expressing,  often  in  a 
very  inconsiderate  way,  their  want  of  respect  and  admiration  for  the 
Russian  character  and  institutions.  The  foreign  colonists  exercised 
little  or  no  civilizing  influence  on  the  surrounding  peasantry,  and 
remained  foreigners  even  in  the  third  and  fourth  generation ;  whilst 


THE   GRAND    TOUR. 


153 


General  Ignatieff's  Orderly. 

the  Poles  did  all  in  their  power  to  transform  their  local  autonomy 
into  political  independence,  and  to  bring  about  the  dismemberment 
of  the  empire.  In  consequence  of  these  unpleasant  facts  the  Govern- 
ment has  in   recent  years   reversed  its  policy,  and   now  strives  to 


154  THE    GRAND    TOUR. 

assimilate  all  heterogeneous  elements.  Of  course,  this  attempt  at 
assimilation,  or  "  Russification,"  as  it  is  termed,  produces  obstinate 
resistance.  Finlanders,  Poles,  and  Germans  feel  that  they  are  more 
civilized  than  Russians,  and  consider  Russification  to  be  what  an 
ingenious  Irishman  once  termed  "  retrograde  progression."  And,  un- 
fortunately, in  this  work  of  assimilation  the  religious  element  comes 
into  play.  In  Russia,  religion  and  nationality  are  so  intimately 
interwoven,  both  in  the  minds  of  the  people  and  in  many  of  the  forms 
of  daily  life,  that  they  are  practically  almost  identical.  However  we 
may  explain  this  curious  circumstance,  the  fact  is  undeniable.  A 
man  may  be  born  in  Russia  and  be  educated  in  Russian  schools,  he 
may  be  a  loyal  subject  of  the  Czar  and  occupy  a  high  position  in  the 
public  service,  but  he  will  never  be  a  genuine  Russian  in  the  full 
sense  of  the  term  if  he  remains  a  Protestant  or  Roman  Catholic. 
Pure  Russian  nationality  is  only  to  be  found  in  conjunction  with 
Greek  Orthodoxy;  and,  accordingly,  the  Government  would  very 
much  like  to  see  all  its  heretical  and  schismatic  subjects  enter  the  pale 
of  the  ofiicial  Church.  How  far  it  endeavors  to  drive  them  in  is  a 
question  which  is  at  present  attracting  considerable  attention,  and  the 
reader  may  naturally  desire  to  know  how  far  the  current  accusations 
are  well  founded.  It  is,  however,  by  no  means  easy  to  arrive  at  the 
truth.  When  a  Consular  agent  like  Colonel  Mansfield  relates  what 
he  has  seen  with  his  own  eyes,  we  may  regard  the  fact  as  duly  proved ; 
but  when  he  relates  from  hearsay  what  is  said  to  have  taken  place  at 
a  considerable  distance,  his  testimony  must  be  accepted  with  extreme 
caution.  In  Poland  especially  this  caution  requires  to  be  exercised. 
Any  one  who  has  come  much  in  contact  with  Poles  must  be  aware  that 
whenever  their  patriotic  feelings  and  their  hatred  of  the  Muscovite 
come  into  play  their  statements  are  not  remarkable  for  accurate 
truthfulness.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth  in  this  particular  case, 
certain  it  is  that  the  persecuting  tendencies  of  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment are  in  general  greatly  exaggerated.  So  long  as  Russians,  or 
foreigners  ra-^ident  in  Russia,  adhere  nominally  to  the  faith  in  which 
they  were  born,  aud  allow  others  to  do  likewise,  they  enjoy  the  most 
complete  religious  liberty.  Tlie  Greek  Orthodox,  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic, the  Protestant,  and  the  Mussulman  enjoy  equally  the  ].rotcction 
of  the  State,  and  are  free  to  Avorshi])  God  after  the  manner  of  their 
forefathers.     But  they  are  not  all  equally  free  to  make  converts.     A 


THE    GRAND    TOUR.  155 

distinction  is  made  between  converts  and  perverts.  A  Roman  Catholic 
or  Protestant  may  pass  over  to  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  but  a 
member  of  the  national  Church  may  not  become  a  Roman  Catholic 
or  Protestant.  Though  the  Government  is,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, strongly  tinged  with  religious  indiffei-entism,  and  makes  no 
strenuous  efforts  to  convert  unbelievers,  it  does  not  allow  the  official 
fold  to  be  diminished.  Of  course  this  is  a  very  serious  infringement 
on  complete  liberty  of  conscience ;  but,  as  comparatively  few  people 
desire  openly  to  change  their  religion,  it  has  not  so  much  practical 
significance  as  might  be  supposed.  Still,  it  is  a  blot,  and  a  very 
serious  blot,  on  Russian  legislation ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the 
present  Emperor,  who  has  accomplished  so  many  beneficent  reforms, 
will  see  fit  to  remove  this  remnant  of  old  religious  intolerance.  To 
protect  orthodoxy  by  the  criminal  code  indicates  surely  a  strange 
want  of  faith  in  the  inherent  excellency  and  power  of  Mother  Church. 

But  we  have  inadverently  wandered  a  long  way  from  our  tour. 
The  first  object  of  interest  which  the  traveller  sees  from  the  steamer  is 
Cronstadt.  From  the  distance  it  seems  an  insignificant  island,  but  it 
is  in  reality  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  the  world.  So,  at  least, 
Russians  say,  and  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  contradict  them.  Cer- 
tainly, it  kept  at  bay  during  the  Crimean  War  a  great  British  fleet, 
and  since  that  time  it  has  been  immensely  strengthened ;  so  that  now, 
if  report  speaks  true,  it  could  defend  St.  Petersburg  against  all  the 
iron-clads  in  the  world.  Shortly  after  passing  it,  we  may  discover  on 
the  southern  shore  of  the  gulf  two  Imperial  palaces,  imbedded  in  trees 
— Peterhof  and  Strelna;  and  soon  afterwards,  right  ahead  near  the 
horizon,  a  peculiar  quivering  light  which  looks  like  a  great  yellow 
meteor,  but  which,  on  closer  inspection,  pioves  to  be  the  sun's  rays 
reflected  on  the  burnished  dome  of  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral,  the  largest 
church  in  St.  Petersburg. 

It  may  be  stated  as  a  general  rule  that  Russian,  like  Oriental  cities, 
look  very  grand  and  beautiful  from  a  distance,' but  lose  very  much  of 
their  grandeur  and  beauty  by  closer  inspection.  St.  Petersburg 
exemplifies  only  the  first  half  of  this  rule.  Seen  from  a  distance  it  is 
grand  and  beautiful ;  but,  unlike  the  great  majority  of  Russian  towns, 
it  does  not  lose  its  grandeur  and  beauty  when  you  enter  it — at  least 
if  you  enter  it  by  steamer.  The  deep,  rapid  river,  on  which  skim 
perpetually  swift  steam-launches  and  small  rowing-boats — the  far- 


156  THE    GRAND    TOUR. 

Stretching  quays  of  massive  masonry,  half  concealed  behind  barges 
and  steamers — the  big,  solid  houses  lining  the  quays  on  either  side — 
the  long,  elegant  stone  bridge  with  iron  parapet,  behind  which  is  seen 
the  Academy  of  Arts,  the  Fortress  and  the  "Winter  Palace — the  gilded 
domes  of  the  churches  rising  above  the  whole  and  glittering  red  in-  the 
rays  of  the  setting  sun — all  this  forms  a  picture  of  which  the  Peters- 
burgians  are  justly  proud.  And  the  impression  produced  by  this 
scene  is  not  by  any  means  dispelled  by  entering  into  the  heart  of  the 
city.  Here  and  there  we  may  experience  a  sensation  of  barreness,  and 
occasionally  we  may  be  reminded  of  "  the  city  of  magnificent  dis- 
tances;" but  this  is  probably  because  we  are  unaccustomed  to  cities 
laid  out  by  an  autocratic  architect  on  land  of  no  value.  On  the  whole, 
the  city  is  grandiose  in  style  and  proportion.  The  streets  are  for  the 
most  part  wide  and  straight,  and  »wn  at  right  angles  to  each  other. 
They  always  start  with  the  intention  of  going  in  a  perfectly  straight 
line,  and  this  intention  never  encounters  any  opposition  from  elevations 
or  depressions ;  but  occasionally,  when  they  meet  with  one  of  the 
numerous  meandering  canals,  they  forget  for  a  moment  their  rigid 
principles  and  become  flexible.  The  size  of  the  houses,  many  of  which 
contain  a  score  of  independent  apartments,  is  in  keeping  with  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  streets,  and  the  squares,  palaces,  theatres, 
and  churches  are  on  the  same  colossal  scale.  The  Nefski  Prospect  is 
certainly  one  of  the  finest  streets  in  the  world. 

In  our  character  of  tourists  we  naturally  "  do  the  sights."  They 
are,  fortunately,  not  very  numerous.  First  we  may  visit  the  Her- 
mitage, which  contains  a  second-rate  collection  of  Italian  and  Spanish 
paintings  and  a  first-rate  collection  of  the  old  Dutch  masters.  Then 
we  may  look  into  one  or  two  collections  of  modern  Russian  pictures, 
showing  very  tolerable  work,  but  nothing  of  striking  originality.  If 
we  care  to  see  big  halls  and  rich  modern  upholstery,  we  may  walk 
through  the  Winter  Palace;  and,  if  our  tastes  be  literary  we  may 
spend  an  hour  or  two  in  the  Imperial  Public  Library,  which  contains, 
among  other  curiosities,  the  library  of  Voltaire.  The  interior  of  the 
great  cathedral  and  the  other  churches  must  be  seen,  but  we  shall  find 
there  nothing  to  detain  us  long.  Indeed,  the  whole  work  of  sight- 
seeing may  be  got  through  in  a  single  day,  and  in  the  cool  of  the 
evening  we  can  spend  an  hour  or  two  in  driving  about  the  islands  or 
gazing  at  the  sunset  from  "the  Point,"  a  favorite  rendezvous  for  those 


THE    GRAND    TOUR. 


157 


158  THE    GRAND    TOUR. 

who  are  compelled  to  spend  the  summer  on  the  banks  of  the  Neva. 
We  commonly  associate  St.  Petersburg  with  ideas  of  snow  and  ice, 
costly  furs  and  warm  sheepskins ;  but  in  reality  its  inhabitants  suffer 
quite  as  much  from  heat  as  from  cold.  During  the  long  winter  the 
ground  is  always  covered  with  snow,  the  thermometer  sinks  occasionally 
to  thirty  degrees  below  zero,  and,  when  a  cutting  east  wind  blows,  the 
noses  and  ears  of  foreigners  and  natives  alike  are  in  danger  of  being 
frost-bitten.  Then  every  house  must  have  double  windowo  and  double 
doors,  and  every  room  must  be  heated  with  hot  air  or  by  an  enormous 
stove.  When  you  open  a  pane  in  the  double  windows,  the  cold  air 
rushes  into  the  room  in  the  form  of  steam,  and  makes  you  modify  your 
American  ideas  about  the  necessity  of  frequently  airing  an  apartment. 
When  you  go  out  to  walk  or  drive  you  must  put  on  a  long,  high- 
collared  fur  coat,  and  cumbrous  galoches  to  protect  the  feet.  You 
perhaps  feel  inclined  to  have  a  run  to  get  up  the  circulation ;  but,  if 
the  weather  is  very  cold  and  bright,  you  had  better  check  that  impulse 
and  content  yourself  with  simply  drawing  your  fur  cloak  closer  around 
you,  for  any  violent  exertion  in  the  very  cold,  bright  days  leads  almost 
instantaneously  to  loss  of  breath,  precisely  as  on  the  top  of  a  high 
mountain.  The  lungs,  it  would  seem,  can  bear  only  a  certain  amount 
of  very  cold  atmosphere,  and,  unlike  over-zealous,  unconscientious 
trades-people,  they  refuse  to  undertake  more  work  than  they  can 
perform.  You  imagine,  perhaps,  that  you  will  indemnify  yourself  for 
all  these  discomforts  by  an  unlimited  amount  of  skating ;  but  in  this 
you  will  probably  be  disappointed.  The  Russians  are  not  a  skating 
people.  Snow  falls  almost  as  soon  as  the  rivers  and  lakes  are  covered 
with  ice,  so  that  any  long  journey  on  skates  is  impossible.  In  St. 
Petersburg,  indeed,  a  skating  club  was  started  many  years  ago,  and 
now  the  Russians  have  learned  to  make  skating  rinks ;  but  the  amuse- 
ment has  never  become  very  popular  among  the  natives,  and  St. 
Petersburg  is,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  the  only  town  in  the  Empire 
where  good  rinks  are  to  be  found.  And  even  here  in  the  very  cold 
weather  skating  cannot  be  had,  for  when  the  thermometer  falls  to  a 
certain  extent  the  ice  becomes  hard  as  glass,  and  the  skates,  however 
sharp,  will  not  bite.  During  the  festivities  which  took  place  at  the 
time  of  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh's  marriage,  fears  were  entertained  that 
the  skating  fete  prepared  by  the  English  colony  might  be  prevented 
in  this  way ;  nature,  however,  showed  herself  more  propitious  than 


THE    GRAND    TOUR.  159 

was  expected,  and  the  fete  proved  one  of  the  most  brilliant  ever  given 
on  the  Neva.  Many  people  prefer  the  excitement  of  the  ice  hills  to 
the  tamer  pleasures  of  the  skating  rink.  If  made  sufficiently  high 
and  steep,  these  "  hills"  enable  one  to  enjoy  all  the  pleasure  which  can 
derived  from  being  pitched  out  of  a  high  window,  without  the  absolute 
certainty  of  breaking  one's  neck.  Men  of  sporting  tendencies  can 
have  a  still  more  exciting  kind  of  amusement  in  the  form  of  a  bear 
hunt.  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  bear  hunting  is  not  quite 
such  an  heroic  amusement  as  the  name  seems  to  indicate.  There  are, 
indeed  in  some  of  the  outlying  provinces,  a  few  peasants  who  may 
fairly  be  called  "  mighty  hunters,"  men  who  can  go  out  alone  into  the 
foTest  and  face  old  Bruin  with  nothing  more  deadly  in  their  hands 
than  a  heavy  wooden  club  and  a  long  knife.  Keport  says  that  some- 
where in  the  Ural  there  is  even  a  woman  who  regularly  seeks  such 
dangerous  encounters,  and  always  succeeds  in  bagging  the  game.  But 
that  is  not  the  kind  of  bear  hunting  which  is  practised  by  the  amateur 
sportsmen  of  St.  Petersburg.  We  may  tell  you,  gentle  reader,  in  strict 
confidence,  that  the  bear  is  always  bought  before  it  is  shot.  When 
peasants  discover  one  of  the  shaggy  fraternity  enjoying  his  winter 
siesta,  their  first  care  is  to  find  a  purchaser,  and  for  this  purpose  they 
send  a  deputy  to  some  member  of  the  sporting  world  in  the  city.  A 
bargain  is  made  (the  sum  depending  on  the  distance  of  the  lair  from  a 
railway  station),  and  on  the  appointed  day  a  party  of  sportsmen,  armed 
with  rifles,  proceed  to  the  spot.  The  beaters  then  go  into  the  forest 
and  endeavor,  by  howling  and  yelling,  to  rouse  the  bear  and  drive 
him  to  the  point  where  the  sportsmen  are  waiting  to  receive  him.  If 
the  affair  has  been  well  arranged  he  has  little  chance  of  escape.  Being 
of  a  naturally  pacific  disposition,  he  tries  to  get  away  from  his  howling 
persecutors,  and  runs  unsuspectingly  "  into  the  jaws  of  death."  Thus, 
you  see,  gentle  reader,  amateur  bear  shooting  is  not  a  very  dangerous 
amusement.  Still,  if  you  have  had  no  experience  of  the  kind,  you 
will  do  well  to  be  cautious.  Though  your  contract  with  the  peasant 
may  have  been  made  in  due  form,  remember  that  the  bear  has  not 
sio-ned  it,  and  consequently  does  not  consider  himself  bound  to  act  as 
he  is  desired.  He  will  make  ofi*  if  he  possibly  can ;  but,  if  he  cannot, 
he  may  show  in  a  very  disagreeable  way  his  instinct  of  self-preservation 
and  his  means  of  self-defence.  The  rule  you  have  to  follow  is — either 
make  a  good  hit  or  a  good  miss.     In  the  one  case  you  disable  your 


160  THE   GRAND   TOUR. 

enemy,  and  in  the  other  you  enable  him  to  escape.  If  you  adopt  a 
middle  course  and  wound  him,  look  out  for  your  scalp !  Before  you 
have  time  to  think  of  a  second  shot  you  may  find  yourself  in  the 
savage  brute's  embrace.  Perhaps  you  may  be  released  by  a  well- 
aimed,  well-timed  shot  from  one  of  your  companions ;  otherwise  your 
plight  will  be  miserable  indeed.  The  Autocrat  of  All  the  Russias 
himself,  in  his  own  dominions,  had  a  few  years  ago  a  very  narrow 
escape  of  the  kind.  But  for  the  timely  aid  of  the  two  spearmen  who 
always  accompany  his  Majesty  on  such  occasions,  the  bear  would  have 
caused  some  alterations  to  be  made  in  the  Almanack  de  Gotha,  and 
have  exercised  a  considerable  and  lasting  influence  on  European 
history. 

There  is  something  at  once  solemnizing  and  ridiculous  in  the 
thought  that  a  humble  quadruped,  belonging  to  a  family  whose  name 
has  never  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  sufi"rage,  should  be 
able — or  almost  able — in  a  moment  of  blind  rage  to  modify  the  des- 
tinies of  a  great  empire !  Yet  so  it  is.  In  America  bears  might 
swallow  half  a  dozen  Presidents,  and  even  two  or  three  Cabinet 
Ministers,  without  materially  modifying  the  policy  of  the  country;  but 
in  Russia  the  case  is  quite  different.  There  the  Sovereign  can  do  as 
he  or  she  pleases,  and  the  Imperial  decision  may  be  determined  by  a 
very  insignificant  item  in  the  chapter  of  accidents.  There  is  a  capital 
illustration  of  this  in  the  anecdote  told  of  the  Empress  Elizabeth. 
She  was  about  to  sign  a  very  important  treaty,  which  would  have 
compelled  her  to  declare  war,  when  an  indiscreet  fly,  regardless  of  the 
divinity  that  doth  hedge  an  Empress,  alighted  near  her  pen  and  made 
a  blot.  The  incident  seemed  to  her  Majesty  an  evil  omen,  and  made 
such  an  impression  upon  her  that  she  laid  the  paper  aside  and  never 
finished  her  signature.  Thus  a  common  little  fly,  with  no  more 
intellectual  ability  than  is  required  to  make  a  blot,  had  more  political 
influence  than  the  sixteen  millions  of  inhabitants  which  at  that  time 


)ire ! 


formed  the  population  of  the  Emj 

We  have  recently  heard  a  good  deal  about  the  popular  pressure  to 
which  the  Czar  is  supposed  to  yield ;  and  some  Russians  even  go  as  far 
as  to  assert  that  his  Majesty  never  does  anything  contrary  to  the 
popular  will.  "  Our  Government,"  say  these,  "  though  autocratic  in 
form,  is  in  reality  representative.  Though  we  have  no  Parliament, 
we   have  other   means  of  expressing  our  wishes,   and  the   Emperor 


CosiAN  Pasha,  Civil  Governor  of  Herzegovina. 


THE  GRAND   TOUR. 


161 


A  Russian  Escort  en  route  to  Military  Camp  at  Piva. 


cannot  disregard  them."  Certain  Russians  love  to  speak  in  this  tone 
to  foreigners ;  but  they  would  never  think  of  doing  so  to  their  owa 
countrymen.  If  they  really  believe  what  they  say,  then  it  is  a  case 
of  the  wish  being  father  to  the  thought.  The  Emperor  is  himself  a 
Russian,  and  consequently  to  some  extent  under  the  same  influences  as 
his  people ;  but  he  is  quite  capable  of  having  an  independent  opinion 
or  of  adopting  the  opinions  of  a  small  minority,  as  he  has  done  in  the 
question  of  classical  versus  scientific  education,  and  no  amount  of 
popular  clamor  can  in  such  a  case  shake  his  determination.  But  is 
he  not,  as  certain  other  people,  forced  to  yield  to  presure  of  another 
kind?  The  whole  country,  say  these,  is  undermined  by  revolutionary 
propaganda.  The  Czar  sits,  as  it  were,  on  a  volcano,  and  is  obliged  to 
let  out  from  time  to  time  a  little  of  the  explosive  material,  lest  he  and 
his  whole  family  should  be  blown  into  the  air.  At  the  present  moment, 
for  instance,  he  has  adopted  the  Napoleonic  ruse  of  making  war,  so 
that  the  attention  of  his  more  patriotic  than  loyal  subjects  should  be 
withdrawn  from  home  affairs.  All  this  is  utterly  false.  There  does 
11 


162  THE  GRAND    TOUR. 

exist  a  certain  revolutionary  propaganda,  which  causes  the  Goverment 
a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  trouble,  but  it  has  not  the  slightest  chance 
of  overthrowing  the  existing  order  of  things.  The  great  mass  of  the 
nation  are  devotedly  and  unreservedly  attached  to  the  reigning  dynasty, 
and  would  strongly  disapprove  of  anything  which  tended  to  limit  the 
autocratic  power.  Not  only  the  revolutionary  tendencies,  but  even 
the  legitimate  cnnstitutional  aspirations  are  confined  to  a  very  small 
minority  of  the  people,  and  whatever  the  Czar  commands  is  certain  to 
meet  with  no  serious  resistance. 

But  to  return.  We  were  saying  that  the  Petersburgians  have  to 
suffer  as  much  from  heat  as  from  cold.  Though  the  winter  is  long 
and  dreary,  it  does  not  last  all  the  year  round.  Some  time  in  April 
or  the  beginning  of  May  the  warm  weather  comes.  The  snow  melts, 
leaving  oceans  of  slush  in  the  streets,  the  sledges  are  replaced  by 
wheeled  vehicles,  the  ice  on  the  river  begins  to  move,  the  steamers 
and  sailing  craft  which  have  been  imprisoned  for  six  months  prepare 
for  work,  and  the  sun  sends  down  a  flood  of  heat,  as  if  anxious  to 
make  up  for  lost  time.  Soon  the  grass,  the  shrubs,  and  the  trees  show 
signs  of  reviving,  and  in  the  space  of  a  few  days  the  bare  branches 
and  twigs  cover  themselves  with  the  fresh,  bright  foliage  of  spring. 
This  is  the  most  delightful  time  of  year  in  Northern  Russia.  Unfor- 
tunately, it  is  as  short  as  delightful.  Ere  a  few  weeks  have  passed, 
the  sunshine  that  was  so  pleasant  after  the  long  black  winter,  becomes 
oppressive.  The  bright  verdure  of  the  foliage  becomes  sickly  gray, 
the  air  becomes  heavy,  the  odors  that  glide  about  the  streets  remind 
one  that  the  drainage  of  the  city  is  far  from  perfect,  the  pleasant 
houses  that  one  frequented  during  the  winter  months  are  one  after 
another  shut  up,  the  accustomed  faces  are  no  longer  met  with  in  the 
streets,  and  those  who  are  obliged  to  remain  in  the  city  feel  like  the 
poor  orphan  schoolboy  who  does  not  go  home  for  the  holidays.  Among 
the  upper  classes  there  are  few  such  unfortunates.  Those  who  cannot 
go  to  estates  in  the  country  or  make  a  foreign  tour  find  for  the  most 
part  summer  quarters  in  the  islands,  or  at  Tsarskoe  Solo,  Pavlofsk, 
Strelna,  Peterhof,  or  some  other  place  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
Then  come  the  long,  long  midsummer  days,  when  the  night  brings 
neither  darkness  nor  coolness.  How  different  from  the  ordinary  con- 
ception of  St.  Petersburg — the  city  of  ice  ^.nd  snow !  All  extremes 
of  temperature  are  objectionable,  but  in  St.  Petersburg,  where  every- 


THE  GRAND   TOUR.  163 

thing  is  arranged  for  winter,  extreme  heat  is  much  more  disagreeable 
than  extreme  cold.  Let  us,  then,  tarry  no  longer.  We  have  "  done 
the  sights"  as  conscientiously  as  can  be  expected,  so  we  may  join  the 
southeastward  exodus  and  pay  a  flying  visit  to  Moscow. 

The  railway  by  which  we  travel  is  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  country, 
and  was  constructed  under  the  personal  supervision  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas.  That  explains  the  massive  style  of  construction.  Nicholas 
was  a  man  who  loved  to  do  everything  in  the  grand  style,  and  was  not 
in  the  habit  of  accurately  counting  the  cost.  The  Moscow  Railway 
reflects  his  character  truly  in  this  respect.  It  runs  almost  in  a  straight 
line,  because  the  Czar  so  ordered  it,  and  the  principal  stations  are  built 
in  a  massive — one  might  almost  say  a  grandiose — style.  At  each  of 
these  the  train  stops  long  enough  to  enable  the  passengers  to  dine  or 
sup  copiously — an  arrangement  that  necessarily  causes  considerable 
delay,  but  has  some  corresponding  advantages.  The  whole  distance 
is  about  four  hundred  miles,  and  the  journey  is  made  by  express  train 
in  about  fifteen  hours. 

The  tourist's  first  impressions  of  Moscow  do  not  prepossess  him 
favorably.  The  railway  station  is  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  and 
the  streets  which  lead  to  the  central  quarter  are  narrow,  winding, 
dirty,  and  execrably  paved.  The  jerks  and  jolting  would  certainly 
prove  too  much  for  the  springs  of  any  American  carriage,  and  try 
severely  the  traveller's  muscles,  sinews,  and  good  nature.  But  when 
he  reaches  the  central  part,  if  he  have  aught  of  the  picturesque  and 
antiquarian  instincts  in  him,  he  will  immediately  forget  any  little 
personal  inconveniences.  There  before  him  rises  the  Kremlin  in  all 
its  quaint  originality.  He  gazes  with  wonder,  not  unmixed  with 
admiration,  at  the  high  stone  walls,  the  curious  old  towers,  the  vener- 
able Cathedral  with  its  gilded  cupolas,  and  the  grotesque  Church  of 
St.  Basil,  one  of  the  most  fantastic  architectural  conceptions  that  ever 
issued  from  human  brain.  And  when  he  examines  the  details  he  finds 
most  interesting  objects  that  recall  every  period  of  Russian  history. 
There  are  still  remains  of  the  time  when  Moscow  was  but  one  among 
many  independent  Principalities,  when  all  "the  Russian  land,"  and 
Moscow  as  part  of  it,  paid  tribute  to  the  Tartar  Khan.  Much  more 
numerous  are  the  remains  of  the  period  when  the  ancient  city  had 
risen  high  above  her  rivals,  had  thrown  off  the  Tartar  yoke,  and  had 
combined  all  the  independent  Principalities  into  the  Czardom  of  Mus- 


164  THE   GRAND    TOUR. 

covy.  That  was  the  period  when  Ivan  III.  ordered  an  Italian  architect 
to  construct  the  fantastic  Church  of  St.  Basil — Avhen  Ivan  IV.,  sur- 
named  the  Terrible,  broke  the  power  of  the  proud  old  Muscovite 
aristocracy  and  quenched  the  republican  spirit  of  Novgorod  in  the 
blood  of  eighty  thousand  of  its  inhabitants — when  the  Poles  and 
Cossacks  overran  the  country,  and  ruthlessly  pillaged,  murdered  and 
desecrated  in  a  way  that  Bashi-Basouks  might  have  been  proud  of — 
when  the  mild,  pious  Alexis  invited  to  his  dominions  all  manner  of 
cunning  foreign  artificers  and  soldiers  skilled  in  the  art  of  war,  thereby 
paving  the  way  for  his  energetic  son,  who  was  afterwards  to  be  known 
as  Peter  the  Great.  Peter  loved  not  the  conservative  Muscovites,  and 
the  conservative  Muscovites  loved  him  not.  In  order  to  carry  out  his 
vast  reforms  he  was  obliged  to  build  a  new  capital  and  to  transport 
thither  the  seat  of  Government;  but  Moscow  retained,  and  still 
retains,  the  first  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  Russian  people ;  and  once, 
at  least,  in  modern  times  she  has  shown  herself  Avorthy  of  that  aflfec- 
tion.  When,  in  1812,  Napoleon  invaded  the  country,  and  fondly 
imagined  that  from  the  Kremlin  he  could  dictate  his  own  terms  of 
peace,  she  forgot  all  selfish  interests  and  nobly  sacrificed  herself  on  the 
altar  of  the  Fatherland. 

Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  represent  in  a  very  graphic  way  the 
two  great  periods  of  Russian  history.  The  old  capital  has  a  look  of 
antiquity  and  irregularity  which  show  that,  like  the  famous  Topsy,  it 
"  growed ;"  whilst  the  new  capital  is  regularly  built,  and  bears  every- 
where traces  of  having  been  constructed  according  to  a  clearly-conceived 
plan.  Russian  history  before  Peter  the  Great  closely  resembles  Mos- 
cow. Down  to  the  time  of  the  Great  Reformer  the  country  had  a 
natural  spontaneous  life,  struggling  with  difficulties  as  they  arose  and 
solving  them  more  or  less  successfully  by  its  own  traditional  wisdom. 
If  the  old  Muscovite  Czars  had  any  grand  definite  policy,  it  was  to 
extend  their  dominions  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  to  retain  all  political 
power  in  their  own  hands.  They  had  no  idea  of  civilizing  their 
subjects  or  of  constructing  a  symmetrical  Administration  according  to 
the  principles  of  political  science.  They  were  not  averse  to  having  in 
their  service  a  few  foreigners  who  knew  something  of  architecture, 
artillery,  and  other  useful  arts;  but  they  did  not  go  much  further  in 
that  direction,  and  even  that  little  was  very  distasteful  to  their  subjects. 
The  ordinary   Russian   of  that   day   regarded   everything  foreign  as 


THE  GRAND  TOUR. 


165 


Fort  Mive.\nitzia,  Black  Sea. 

heretical  and  dangerous  to  salvation.  He  did  not  object  to  hard 
drinking,  because  that  was  a  good  old  national  institution,  sanctified 
by  immemorial  custom;  but  he  was  very  much  scandalized  by  the 
sight  of  a  tobacco  pipe,  because  smoking  was  a  foreign  invention 
patronized  by  Papists  and  Protestants.  And  in  this,  as  in  all  similar 
matters,  he  could  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  was  in  him.  The 
distinction  between  intoxicating  mdha  and  the  fragrant  weed  was 
founded  on  no  less  authority  than  Holy  Writ,  for  is  it  not  written  that 
a  man  is  defiled,  not  by  that  which  entereth  into  him — i.e.,  vodka — 
but  by  that  which  cometh  out  of  his  mouth — i.e.,  tobacco  smoke? 
"Whether  they  had  equally  good  authority  for  the  other  parts  of  their 
conservative  creed  we  know  not,  but  we  do  know  that  they  stuck  with 
great  tenacity  to  their  time-honored  customs  and  beliefs,  and  some- 
times showed  themselves  ready  to  die  rather  than  depart  from  what 
had  been  observed  by  their  forefathers.  Among  such  people  it  re- 
quired a  very  strong  and  a  very  bold  man  to  introduce  even  moderate 
reforms,  and  any  ordinary  mortal,  though  strong  and  bold  as  his 
fellows,  would  have  considered  it  simple  madness  to  attempt  any 


166  THE    GRAND    TOUR. 

sweeping  changes  in  the  social  or  political  life.  But  Czar  Peter  was 
not  an  ordinary  mortal.  He  had  that  impetuous  rashness  and  that 
reckless  contempt  for  opposition  which  drive  their  possessor  either  to 
destruction  or  to  a  high  place  among  historical  personages.  Having 
travelled  in  foreign  countries,  he  had  been  charmed  by  the  results  of 
Western  civilization,  and  determined  to  introduce  it  into  his  own 
country,  however  unpalatable  it  might  be  to  his  people  and  their 
priests.  The  scheme  was  a  daring — we  might  almost  say  mad — one, 
and  certainly  could  be  justified  by  nothing  but  success;  but  it  had 
that  best  of  justifications.  Not  that  all  Peter's  schemes  turned  out 
successful.  Far  from  it.  Very  many  of  his  plans  utterly  broke  down, 
and  even  those  which  had  a  better  fate  did  not  produce  nearly  all  the 
beneficent  results  which  he  anticipated.  But  he  did  succeed  in  break- 
ing with  the  past  and  putting  his  country  on  a  new  road.  Russia  was 
no  longer  allowed  to  "  grow"  after  its  own  fashion.  Its  institutions  were 
remodelled  according  to  the  political  wisdom  of  Germany,  Holland, 
Denmark,  and  France,  and  the  upper  classes  were  compelled  to  adopt 
the  dress,  and  in  a  lesser  degree  the  ideas,  of  Western  Europe.  The 
conservative  tendencies  of  the  nobles  were  extracted  partly  by  the 
new  schools  and  partly  the  old  knout,  whilst  the  priests,  monks,  and 
ecclesiastical  dignitaries  were  kept  in  order  by  the  civil  power.  In 
short,  the  Czardom  of  Muscovy,  with  its  ancient  venerable  capital  on 
the  Moskva,  was  transformed  into  the  Empire  of  Eussia  with  a  brand- 
new  capital  on  the  Neva.  Up  to  that  time  Muscovy  had  been 
considered  an  Asiatic  Principality,  and  the  Czars  had  been  regarded 
by  the  Christian  Potentates  of  Europe  pretty  much  as  the  petty 
princes  of  Central  Asia  are  regarded  by  us  at  the  present  day ;  from 
that  time  onwards  Russia  was  to  be  one  of  the  European  Powers,  and 
her  Imperial  rulers  were  to  have  a  hand  in  all  the  great  congresses, 
conferences,  and  other  ingenious  expedients  by  which  short-sighted, 
feeble-handed  Diplomacy  endeavors  to  preserve  the  public  peace. 

The  rapidity  with  which  Russia  has  grown  during  these  two 
hundred  years  is  certainly  amazing.  In  1682  her  geographical  area 
was  about  5,600,000  square  miles;  in  1867  it  was  about  7,535,000. 
The  increase  in  her  population  is  even  more  astounding.  Between 
1722  and  1857 — that  is  to  say,  in  less  than  a  century  and  a  half— it  has 
risen  from  14,000,000  to  74,000,000!  Political  prophets,  who  found 
their  predictions  on  materials  invisible  to  ordinary  eyes  and  unintel- 


THE   GRAND    TOUR.  167 

ligible  to  the  ordinary  understanding,  sometimes  declare  confidently 
that  the  great  Colossus  must  soon  fall  to  pieces.  For  our  own  part,  we 
cannot  lay  claim  to  the  gift  of  prophecy,  political  or  other ;  but  we 
must  say  we  cannot  discover  any  symptoms  of  this  expected  disruption, 
nor  can  we  discover  anything  that  seems  likely  to  grow  into  local 
political  independence.  Nowhere  is  there  what  a  German  might  call 
a  healthy,  vigorous  "  separatismus."  The  Russian  who  lives  long  in  an 
outlying  province  may  adopt  some  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
natives,  but  his  political  instincts  and  sympathies  remain  unchanged. 
The  idea  of  dismembering  the  empire  probably  never  entered  his 
mind,  and  if  it  is  suggested  to  him  it  will  sound  in  his  ears  almost  as 
blasphemy.  A  recent  traveller  in  Siberia,  who  has  published  his 
observations,  asserts  that  he  found  there  the  germs  of  a  separate 
nationality.  In  Siberia,  he  declares,  a  considerable  part  of  the  educated 
population  is  composed  of  Polish  exiles  and  their  descendants,  who 
are  neither  Poles  nor  Russians,  but  Siberians.  But,  without  calling 
these  statements  in  question,  we  cannot  accept  the  conclusion  that 
these  Siberians  are  likely  to  found  a  separate  nationality  and  acquire 
political  independence.  These  men  of  Polish  extraction  form  but  a 
very  small  section  of  the  people,  and  their  members  are  not  increasing 
nearly  as  rapidly  as  the  purely  Russian  population.  All  Siberians 
have,  it  is  true,  certain  slight  peculiarities  of  character  and  manners 
which  distinguish  them  from  the  ordinary  Russian,  but  they  are,  so 
far  as  we  have  been  able  to  form  a  judgment,  thoroughly  Russian  in 
feeling  and  sympathies.  Everywhere  in  European  Russia  the  rail- 
ways are  rapidly  destroying  the  little  local  life  that  formerly  existed, 
and  the  telegraphs  have  diminished  the  little  independence  which  the 
local  administration  formerly  enjoyed. 

If  we  visit  the  Ethnographical  Museum,  which  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  sights  in  Moscow,  we  may  feel  inclined  for  a  moment  to 
look  favorably  on  the  predictions  of  Russian  dismemberment.  "We 
find  there  an  immense  collection  of  lay-figures,  representing  all  the 
nationalities  which  profess  allegiance  to  the  Czar ;  and  to  tell  the  truth 
it  is  a  motley  company.  There  is  the  Samoyed,  covered  with  reindeer 
skin  from  head  to  foot,  and  a  hideous  group  of  Fire-Worshippers  from 
Bakou,  wearing  only  a  minimum  of  clothing — the  squat,  stunted 
Buriat,  and  the  tall,  stalwart  Cossack — the  uncouth,  timid  Tchuwash, 
and  the  agile,  fierce  Circassian — Tcheremiss  and  Votiaks,  Bashkirs  and 


168  THE   GRAND   TOUR. 

Kirghis,  Tartars  and  Kalmucks,  Poles  and  Germans,  Georgians  and 
Jews,  Persians  and  Lesgians.  Turning  to  the  religious  statistics,  we 
find  an  almost  equally  great  variety — Greek-Orthodox,  sectarians  of 
every  denomination,  Gregorians,  Roman  Catholics,  Protestants,  Jews, 
Mohammedans,  Idolaters!  Surely,  in  a  nation  which  comprises  so 
many  races  and  so  many  religions,  there  must  be  many  dangerous 
elements  of  discord  and  disruption.  No  doubt  there  are ;  but  the 
danger  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  at  first  sight  appears.  Though  there 
are  many  races,  the  Russians  compose  four-fifths  of  the  population. 
The  Finns  show  the  respectable  number  of  more  than  four  millions 
and  a  half,  but  they  have  no  nationality,  in  the  political  sense.  The 
■word  includes  a  dozen  tribes,  which  have  no  common  language,  no 
recollection  of  political  unity,  no  special  bond  of  sympathy  with  each 
other,  and  which  are  being  rapidly  Russianized.  The  Jews  amount  to 
nearly  two  millions  and  a  half;  but  in  Russia,  as  elsewhere,  the 
children  of  Israel  have  no  separatist  political  aspirations.  The  only 
nationality  likely  to  cause  the  Russians  any  serious  trouble  is  the 
Poles,  and  they  have  very  little  chance  of  ever  regaining  their  political 
independence,  which  would  be  a  thorn  in  the  side  not  only  of  Russia 
but  also  of  Germany  and  Austria.  The  Baltic  Provinces  are  some- 
times supposed  to  have  a  better  chance.  The  inhabitants,  it  is  said, 
are  Germans ;  and  though  they  have  little  power  of  their  own,  they 
may,  perhaps,  induce  Bismarck,  or  one  of  his  successors,  to  espouse  their 
cause  and  unite  them  with  the  German  Fatherland  from  which  they 
have  been  so  long  separated.  To  those  who  speak  in  this  way  it  must 
be  admitted  that  everything  is  possible ;  but  it  must  be  added  that  there 
are  probable  things  and  improbable  things,  and  that  the  annexation  of 
the  Baltic  Provinces  by  Germany  belongs  decidedly  to  the  improbable. 
The  majority  of  the  population  are  not  German  but  Finnish.  The 
nobles  and  the  commercial  classes  are  alone  German,  and  they  cannot 
reasonably  desire  annexation  to  Germany,  for  they  would  thereby  lose 
the  important  advantages  afforded  them  by  their  present  anomalous 
position.  The  nobles  supply  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  Russian 
"  generals,"  civil  and  military,  and  play  a  far  more  important  part 
than  they  could  possibly  play  in  the  German  Empire.  In  like  manner 
the  commercial  classes  would  greatly  suffer  by  annexation,  for  the  com- 
mercial importance  of  the  provinces  would  be  immensely  diminished 
if  they  ceased  to  be  Russian. 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES,  169 

CHAPTER  IX. 

TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 

In  a  country  -with  so  many  nationalities  we  naturally  expect  to  find 
an  endless  variety  of  curious  primitive  industries,  and  we  think  with 
pleasure  of  the  neat,  original  objects  that  we  will  take  home  as  presents 
to  our  friends  and  relations.  Perhaps  we  even  dream  of  making  a 
little  Russian  museum  in  our  library,  and  are  impatient  to  go  to  the 
bazaars.  Let  us  go  thither  by  all  means.  The  bazaar  is  in  the 
"  Chinese  Town,"  close  to  the  Kremlin,  so  that  on  our  way  we  can 
have  another  look  at  those  picturesque  old  walls  and  fantastic  towers. 
But  we  must  not  expect  to  find  many  curiosities  for  our  museum,  or 
we  will  inevitably  be  disappointed.  Neither  the  Russians  nor  the 
various  tribes  which  they  have  annexed  are  very  remarkable  for 
mechanical  ingenuity  or  refined  natural  taste.  In  many  parts  of  the 
country  there  are  peculiar  local  industries ;  but  of  the  articles  pro- 
duced very  many — such  as  big  boxes,  tubs,  stoneware  jars,  and  wooden 
sledges — cannot  be  conveniently  stowed  away  in  a  portmanteau ;  and 
others — such  as  nails,  tar,  and  tallow — are  scarcely  suitable  for  presents. 
Still  there  are  a  few  objects  that  will  suit  our  purpose.  Some  heretical 
foreigners  buy  unconsecrated  Icons  as  mantelpiece  ornaments,  and 
purchase  largely  cloth  of  gold  and  silver,  from  which  ecclesiastical  vest- 
ments are  made,  for  the  purpose  of  making  window-curtains  and 
covering  drawing-room  furniture ;  but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  have 
sufficient  veneration  for  things  sacred  not  to  encourage  such  a  practice. 
"We  may,  however,  buy  as  a  curiosity  some  specimens  of  the  cloth  of 
gold,  much  of  which  is  extremely  beautiful  in  design  and  workman- 
ship. From  the  numerous  patterns,  many  of  which  are  commonplace 
and  gaudy,  we  will  have  no  difficulty  in  selecting  specimens  of  genuine 
old  Byzantine  ornamentation.  Then  there  are  the  enamels.  If  we 
can  find  a  good  specimen  of  what  the  French  call  email  cloisonne,  we 
may  safely  give  a  good  price  for  it,  and  not  regret  our  bargain.  If 
nothing  of  that  kind  is  to  be  had,  we  may  invest  in  a  few  of  the  ordi- 
nary modern  enameled  cups.  Many  of  them  are  exquisite  both  in 
design  and  color.     The  niello  work,  too,  can  be  recommended.     But  the 


170 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


A  Russian  Inn. 


most  thoroughly  original  of  all  is  the  lace  and  the  embroidery  on 
towels,  both  of  which  are  made  by  the  peasantry  according  to  tradi- 
tional models. 

Now  that  we  have  completed  our  purchases,  let  us  go  and  have  some 
refreshment  in  a  "  traktir" — a  genuine  national  institution  where  we 
are  likely  to  find  some  "  local  color."  There  is  a  large  one  close  by, 
and  we  are  sure  to  find  there  some  good  specimens  of  the  Russian 
merchant  class. 

The  room  is  not  very  large,  and  a  considerable  part  of  it  is  occupied 
by  the  enormous  automatic  barrel-organ,  which  reaches  to  the  ceiling, 
and  is  intended  to  represent  an  entire  orchestra.  The  instrument 
might  perhaps  be  pleasant  in  a  gigantic  hall ;  but  here,  in  this  small, 
low-roofed  apartment,  it  is  simjjly  deafening,  so  that  we  cannot  but 
think,  with  all  due  deference  to  Muscovite  taste,  that  the  ten  thousand 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES.  171 

dollars  expended  on  its  construction  might  have  been  more  profitably- 
employed.  Such,  however,  is  not  the  opinion  of  the  native  inmates, 
and  they  ought  to  know  best.  They  thoroughly  enjoy  the  harmonious 
din,  and  delight  especially  in  the  deep  bass  notes  that  make  the 
building  shake.  In  the  music  there  is  nothing  Russian  or  peculiar. 
It  is  simply  a  collection  of  the  Italian  operatic  airs  which  organ- 
grinders  patronize,  and  the  instrument  is  merely  a  magnified,  intensified 
barrel-organ,  such  as  a  bilious  man  might  see  and  hear  in  a  horrible 
nightmare.  Next  to  the  organ  the  most  conspicuous  object  in  the  room 
is  the  big  tea-urn,  which  likewise  reaches  almost  to  the  ceiling,  and  has 
from  its  magnitude  also  a  nightmare  look  about  it.  How  many  gallons 
of  boiling  water  it  may  contain  we  know  not,  but  we  have  no  doubt 
that  if  the  quantity  could  be  calculated  the  result  would  cause  no  little 
astonishment.  It  forms  the  centre  of  activity  in  the  place,  and  round 
it  collect  the  waiters — active,  intelligent  youths,  dressed  in  white 
trousers  and  light  silk  shirts  worn  in  the  form  of  a  blouse,  who  dart 
about  like  swallows.  The  third  object  in  the  order  of  magnitude  is 
that  portly  Muscovite  who  sits  by  the  window — as  round  and  almost 
as  capacious  as  the  tea-urn.  He  has  just  finished  his  sixth  tumblerful 
of  scalding  tea,  and  shows  no  signs  of  flagging.  Had  weak  tea  been 
the  beverage  in  which  the  old  Teutonic  topers  indulged,  that  worthy 
Slav  might  have  held  his  own  among  them,  and  worthily  upheld  at 
the  great  drinking-bouts  the  honor  of  his  race.  As  it  is,  he  has  no 
consciousness  of  being  anything  heroic,  any  more  than  the  old  giants 
were  when  they  went  about  their  daily  avocations.  He  is  merely 
drinking  his  tea  in  a  quiet,  steady,  business-like  way,  as  a  respectable, 
weighty  Moscow  merchant  should  do ;  and,  as  to  the  quantity,  it  is 
nothing  more  than  he  and  his  fellow-merchants  are  accustomed  to. 
His  neighbor,  it  is  true — that  lean,  white-haired  man — cannot  keep 
pace  with  him,  but  that  is  not  wonderful,  for  he  is  not  a  genuine 
Russian  merchant — at  least,  he  was  not  so  born  and  bred.  Though 
the  two  men  are  now  on  a  certain  footing  of  equality,  both  being 
weighty  men  on  'Change,  their  past  history  is  very  difierent.  The 
capacious  gentleman  is  the  son  of  a  peasant,  and  was  in  his  youth  a 
serf  like  his  father.  By  his  own  efibrts  he  scaled  the  ladder  of  fortune 
— no  one  but  himself  knows  precisely  how,  for  he  never  troubles  his 
friends  with  autobiographical  details ;  and  now  he  is  one  of  the  richest 
men  in  the  city.    A  stranger,  judging  by  his  appearance,   might 


172  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 

reasonably  hesitate  before  lending  him  a  shilling,  but  any  one  at  all 
acquainted  with  the  commercial  world  of  Moscow  would  know  that  his 
word  is  good  for  several  hundred  thousand  roubles.  His  friend  beside 
him  is  of  a  very  different  origin.  He  was  born  a  noble,  received  a 
good  education,  and  was  for  some  time  a  professor  in  the  University. 
He  loved  letters,  but  he  loved  financing  still  more ;  and  when  limited 
liability  companies  came  into  fashion  he  launched  boldly  into  numerous 
speculations,  and  rapidly  amassed  a  large  fortune.  The  third  person 
at  that  table  by  the  window  represents  another  category  of  merchants 
— a  category  that  is  as  yet  not  very  numerous.  Like  the  portly 
personage,  he  is  of  humble  origin ;  but,  unlike  him,  he  is  a  man  of 
some  education.  His  father,  though  not  very  wealthy,  had  been  able 
to  send  him  to  school,  so  that  now  he  is  not  only  well  grounded  in  the 
three  R's,  but  can  even  speak  French.  His  accent,  it  is  true,  is  far 
from  perfect,  and  his  grammar  is  by  no  means  faultless ;  but  he  can 
talk  well  enough  for  all  practical  commercial  purposes,  and  that 
amply  satisfies  his  linguistic  ambition.  The  other  guests  almost  all 
belong,  like  these,  to  the  commercial  world.  Some  of  them  indulge  in 
caviar,  sterlet,  sturgeon,  fish-soup,  pickled  cucumbers,  buckwheat,  and 
other  favorite  Russian  viands,  but  the  majority  confine  themselves 
to  weak  tea,  flavored  with  lemon,  of  which  they  drink  appalling 
quantities. 

We  must  now,  however,  leave  the  ancient  capital  and  take  a  glance 
at  the  provinces.  To  effect  this  we  cannot  do  better  than  make  a 
voyage  down  the  Volga.  We  can  get  on  board  at  Yaroslaff,  and  sail 
down  with  the  current  for  five  or  six  days.  As  the  weather  promises 
to  be  fine,  we  shall  no  doubt  find  it  very  pleasant.  But  how  are  we 
to  get  to  Yaroslaff?  As  to  that,  there  is  no  difficulty,  for  the  distance 
is  only  about  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles,  and  there  is  a  railway 
all  the  way.  You  calculate  accordingly  that  the  journey  will  take 
five  or  six  hours,  and  that  you  will  make  it  in  the  day  time,  so  as  to 
get  an  idea  of  the  country  through  which  the  railway  passes.  If  you 
really  mean  to  do  it  in  this  way  you  must  order  a  special  train.  Of 
the  ordiuary  trains,  including  expresses,  there  is  only  one  in  the 
twenty-four  hours,  and  it  does  not  fulfill  the  required  conditions.  In- 
stead of  five  or  six  hours,  it  takes  eleven  or  twelve,  and  it  starts  about 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening.  We  may,  however,  make  a  compromise. 
There  is  a  morning  train  to  Troitsa,  about  two  hours'  distance  from 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


173 


Grand  Duke  Michael,  Commander  of  the  Russian  Army  in  Asia. 


Moscow,  on  the  Yaroslaff  line.  We  can  spend  a  day  agreeably  in 
visiting  the  famous  monastery,  the  name  of  which  is  familiar  to  every 
Russian,  for  there  would  be  great  difficulty  in  finding  a  genuine  Rus- 
sian peasant,  either  on  this  side  or  the  other  side  of  the  Ural,  who  has 


J74  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES, 

never  heard  of  Troitsa.  Often  in  some  distant  village,  -where  you 
might  think  that  the  inhabitants  had  never  been,  metaphorically 
speaking,  "  half  a  mile  from  home,"  you  may  light  on  old  men  and 
women  who  have  not  only  heard  of  the  famous  monastery,  but  have 
also  seen  it,  and  can  describe  it  graphically  in  all  its  details.  The 
explanation  of  this  is  that  Russian  peasants  are  much  given  to  making 
pilgrimages,  and  regard  it  as  an  occupation  very  useful  not  only  with 
a  view  to  eternal  salvation  but  also  for  the  cure  of  bodily  evils.  Many 
are  the  wonderful  cures  that  have  been  effected  iu  this  way,  when  all 
the  ordinary  resources  of  medicine  and  magic  have  proved  unavailing. 
The  blind  have  been  made  to  see,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  lame  to  walk, 
and  we  know  not  what  more  besides.  The  scientific  reader  here  wishes, 
no  doubt,  to  put  a  question  or  two :  Are  these  so-called  miracles  well 
authenticated  ?  JMight  not  the  cures,  even  when  proved  as  facts,  be 
simply  fortuitous  coincidences  ?  Or,  if  this  cannot  be  admitted,  may 
we  not  assume  that  unusually  strong  faith  may  have  some  as  yet 
uninvestigated  physiological  influence,  which  has  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  supernatural  power?  To  all  of  which  queries  we  must  reply 
as  the  Scotchman  did  to  his  obstinate  friend,  who  persisted  in  asking 
him  whether  a  bee  was  a  beast  or  a  bird :  *'  Don't  trouble  me  with 
theological  questions." 

Whether  these  alleged  cures  are  natural,  supernatural,  or  mythical 
the  peasants  believed  in  them  as  firmly  as  they  do  in  Holy  Writ— 
rather  more  firmly,  probably,  for  they  know  very  little  of  what  Holy 
Writ  contains,  and  they  do  know  all  the  minute  details  of  many  such 
miracles.  Pilgrimage-making  is,  accordingly,  a  favorite  occupation 
for  aged  peasants,  and  Orthodox  believers  look  on  Troitsa  and  Kief 
with  much  the  same  feelings  as  the  good  Mussulman  looks  on  Bokhara 
and  Mecca.  In  Russia  the  ecclesiastical  world  has  not  yet  been 
invaded  by  the  spirit  of  modern  enterprise.  There  are  as  yet  no 
"Cook's  Tourists"  even  in  the  secular  world.  The  noble,  it  is  true, 
who  determines  to  visit  one  of  the  sacred  places  will  probably  "  take 
the  liberty  to  boil  his  peas,"  or,  in  plain  language,  avail  himself  of  the 
railways  and  other  means  of  conveyance ;  but  the  peasant  still  performs 
this  part  of  his  religious  duties  in  the  old  ascetic  style— trudging  all 
the  way,  with  staff  and  wallet,  as  his  forefathers  did  before  him, 
without  knowing  much  about  the  road,  and  with  very  little  money  in 
his  pocket.     The  word  "pocket,"  be  it  remarked  parenthetically,  is 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES.  175 

here  used  in  a  metaphorical  sense,  for  the  Russian  peasant  commonly 
carries  his  money,  not  in  his  pocket,  but  in  his  boot ! 

Seen  from  a  little  distance,  this  JNIonastery  of  Troitsa — or,  more 
correctly,  of  St.  Sergius — has  somewhat  the  look  of  an  old  fortress ; 
and  well  it  may,  for  it  was  during  several  centuries  a  very  strongly 
fortified  place,  and  the  valiant  monks  were  always  ready  to  defend  it 
obstinately  when  occasion  demanded.  When  the  Poles  and  Cossacks 
overran  the  country,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
they  did  not  succeed  in  getting  possession  of  this  stronghold;  and 
the  Superior  played  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  patriotic  movement 
by  which  those  invaders  were  expelled.  During  the  French  invasion 
of  1812  it  had  similar  good  fortune,  or,  to  speak  more  reveren- 
tially, it  was  again  miraculously  saved  from  the  sacrilegious  hands 
of  heretics  and  unbelievers.  At  that  time  the  French  troops  dese- 
crated the  churches  in  the  Kremlin  of  Moscow,  appropriated  all 
the  valuables  they  found  in  them,  and  showed  their  enlightened 
hostility  to  superstition  by  disinterring  and  treating  contemptuously 
the  bodies  of  saints  and  martyrs.  Hearing  that  there  was  a  famous 
and  wealthy  monastery  about  forty  miles  to  the  north,  they  sent  some 
troops  thither,  it  is  said,  for  the  purpose  of  desecrating  and  pillaging ; 
but  the  troops  somehow  lost  their  way,  or  were  afraid  of  venturing  too 
far  from  the  main  army,  and  never  reached  their  destination.  So,  at 
least,  we  have  been  told ;  but,  true  or  not,  the  story  is  at  least  edifying, 
and  teaches  the  moral  that  the  Monastery  of  St.  Sergius  is  still,  even 
in  modern  times,  under  the  special  protection  of  Heaven.  Had  the 
French  succeeded  in  taking  the  place  they  -would  have  been  well 
rewarded  for  their  trouble,  for  the  treasury  contains  ecclesiastical 
vessels,  vestments,  and  other  objects  of  enormous  value.  One  may 
behold  there,  in  the  course  of  a  few  minutes,  more  pearls  than  one  is 
likely  to  see  elsewhere  in  a  lifetime.  What  their  quality  is  we  know 
not;  but  if  it  is  at  all  in  proportion  to  their  quantity,  then  it  is  a  pity 
that  an  institution,  which  is  by  no  means  fabulously  rich,  should  keep 
such  an  enormous  capital  in  an  unproductive  form.  INIight  not  the 
precious  stones  be  sold  and  the  interest  of  the  capital  devoted  to 
education  or  some  benevolent  purpose  ?  Such  is  the  idea  that  naturally 
occurs  to  the  secular  mind ;  but  secular  minds,  we  have  been  told, 
ought  not  to  meddle  with  ecclesiastical,  and  especially  with  monastic 
affairs.    To  a  suggestion  of  the  kind  any  of  the  monks  might  reply : 


176 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


Fort  Buyuk  Liman,  Black  Sea. 


"  Our  present  riches  are  not  a  tithe  of  what  we  formerly  possessed.  In 
old  times  we  had  vast  landed  possessions  and  thousands  of  serfs,  and 
people  of  all  classes  gave  us  of  their  abundance.  Now  all  is  changed. 
Our  lands  and  serfs  were  confiscated  without  compensation  a  century 
ago,  and  the  voluntary  contributions  do  not  flow  in  so  liberally  as  of  old. 
Notwithstanding  all  that,  we  feed  the  hungry  and  do  much  for  educa- 
tion. If  you  look  into  that  large  hall  over  the  way  you  will  see  a 
goodly  number  of  pilgrims  eating  the  dinner  provided  for  them  free 
of  charge,  and  if  you  visit  those  other  buildings  you  will  find  that  we 
liave  a  theological  academy  which  we  have  no  need  to  be  ashamed  of. 
Many  Bishops  and  Archbishops  of  the  Russian  Church  have  received 
their  education  there.  Besides  this,  we  have  pro-;pcrous  schools.  The 
vessels  and  vestments  you  saw  are  for  us  sacred  things,  which  should 
not  be  sold.     Man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone." 

Though  the  monks  may  be  expected  to  bear  constantly  in  mind  this 
last  dictum,  the  creature  comforts  are  not  entirely  neglected  in  Troitsa, 
There  is  a  tolerabk',  hcjtel  belonging  to  the  monastery,  and  here  we  can 
have  not  only  the  delicate  kara.-=si,  which  are  caught  in  the  ])onds  close 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES.  IIJ 

by,  but  also  beef,  mutton,  and  other  viands  from  -which  monks  are 
debarred  by  the  rules  of  the  Church.  All  monks  in  Russia  follow  the 
rules  of  St.  Basil — or,  at  least,  profess  to  follow  them,  which  we  may 
charitably  suppose  for  our  present  purpose  to  be  the  same  thing — and 
these  rules  prohibit  the  use  of  animal  food.  They  are  binding,  how- 
ever, only  on  those  who  take  the  vows,  so  that  we  may  enjoy  a  good 
dinner  of  the  ordinary  kind  without  qualms  of  conscience.  The 
afternoon  we  spend  in  strolling  about  and  conversing  with  the  pilgrims, 
many  of  whom  come  from  great  distances,  and  in  the  evening  we 
return  to  the  station  and  continue  our  journey.  Soon  the  night  closes 
in,  but  we  do  not  thereby  lose  much  in  the  way  of  scenery.  The 
country  which  we  traverse  is,  like  nearly  the  whole  of  the  northern 
half  of  Russia,  a  land  of  forest  and  morass,  with  here  and  there  a  village 
and  an  adjoining  patch  of  cultivation.  By  the  time  we  reach  Rostoff, 
the  only  place  of  interest  on  the  route,  the  sun  has  already  risen. 
Rostoff  is  a  very  old  town,  and  was  in  ancient  times  the  capital  of  an 
independent  principality,  the  Princes  of  which  were  rivals  of  the 
Princes  of  Moscow.  The  family  is — if  genealogical  records  are  to  be 
trusted — still  extant,  and  one  member  of  it  is  at  this  moment  an  officer 
of  the  Imperial  Administration.  But  the  glory  of  the  family  has  long 
since  departed,  and  the  city  has  become  an  ordinary  provincial  town, 
celebrated  chiefly  for  its  annual  fair.  There  are  several  monasteries 
in  the  town  and  suburbs,  and  one  of  them  is  curious  as  having  been 
founded  by  a  Tartar!  This  will  seem  to  modern  ears  a  somewhat 
startling  announcement,  but  in  reality  it  contains  nothing  very  won- 
derful or  improbable.  Remember  that  the  Tartars  were  not  always 
Mohammedans.  When  they  conquered  Russia,  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  they  were  Pagans,  with  a  rude  polytheism  of  some  kind,  but 
with  none  of  that  religious  intolerance  which  Monotheism  engenders. 
All  foreign  religious  they  treated  with  impartiality,  and  even  with  a 
certain  respect.  With  the  Russian  clergy  they  lived  on  very  good 
terms,  and  one  of  the  Khans  used  to  attend  occasionally  a  Christian 
place  of  worship.  Tartar  princesses  who  married  Russian  princes,  and 
Tartar  nobles  who  entered  a  Russian  Prince's  service,  naturally 
adopted  Christianity,  just  as  Protestant  Princesses  of  the  present  day 
join  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church  when  about  to  marry  the  heir  appa- 
rent to  the  Russian  throne.  Even  missionaries,  it  seems,  were  allowed  • 
to  visit  the  Tartar  camp,  and  by  these  various  means  a  certain  number 
12 


jy3  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 

of  Tartars  became  Christians.  Thus  it  was  that  the  son  of  a  certain 
Khan  founded  a  monastery  at  Rostoff,  and  after  his  death  he  became 
a  saint  of  the  Russian  Church!  Unfortunately,  the  mass  of  his  peo- 
ple did  not  follow  his  worthy  example.  On  the  contrary,  they  adopted 
Mohammedanism,  and  from  that  time  there  were  no  more  conversions 
to  Christianity.  We  have  here  an  instance  of  those  apparently 
fortuitous  events  which  exercise  an  incalculable  influence  on  human 
history.  If  the  Tartars  and  their  cousins  the  Turks  had  adopted 
Christianity  instead  of  Islamism,  how  different  the  history  of  Eastern 
Europe  would  have  been ! 

After  leaving  Rostoff,  which,  by-the-by,  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  town  of  the  same  name  on  the  Don,  we  arrive  in  about  two 
hours  at  Yaroslaff,  which  was  also  at  one  time  the  capital  of  an  inde- 
pendent principality.  It  is  a  very  fair  specimen  of  Russian  provincial 
towns.  What  strikes  the  traveller  most  is  the  large  number  of 
churches — a  peculiarity  which  gives  the  place  a  picturesque  appear- 
ance. Like  Russian  churches  in  general,  they  have  bright  green  roofe, 
out  of  which  rise  one  or  five  painted  cupolas — green,  blue,  or  gilt — 
and  some  of  them  have  curious,  picturesque  belfries.  The  interior  of 
the  town  is  less  pleasing  than  the  view  from  a  distance.  The  streets 
are  infamously  paved ;  very  many  of  the  houses  are  in  a  by  no  means 
satisfactory  state  of  repair ;  and  there  is  in  general  a  look^of  careless- 
ness and  squalor.  After  the  churches  and  monasteries,  which  seem  to 
be  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  the  largest 
buildings  are  the  Government  offices,  which  look  into  a  vast  open 
space — something  between  a  square  and  a  big  fallow  field  of  wilder- 
ness. Running  parallel  with  this  open  space,  behind  a  row  of  irregular 
houses,  is  the  Promenade — a  long,  shady  walk,  overlooking  the  river 
and  the  flat  country  beyond.  If  tradition  is  to  be  trusted,  this  Prome- 
nade had  a  rather  curious  origin.  The  story  deserves  to  be  recorded, 
as  illustrating  "  the  good  old  times"  which  have  only  recently  passed 
away.  It  was  to  the  following  effect:  Some  time  during  the  first 
quarter  of  the  present  century  a  fabulously  rich  merchant  of  the  town 
was  convicted  of  forgery  and  sentenced  to  transportation  for  life. 
Under  ordinary  circumstances  this  commercial  Croesus  might  easily 
have  escaped,  for  he  was  willing  to  pay  a  very  large  sum  for  his  release, 
and  the  Russian  officials  of  that  time  were  fearfully  corrupt;  but  the 
Governor  of  Yaroslaff  happened  to  be,  by  some  accident,  an  honest 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


179 


Consecration  of  a  Bulgarian  Banner. 


man,  and  stubbornly  refused  to  be  bribed.  In  spite  of  refusals,  the 
efforts  were  continued,  and  at  last  it  occurred  to  the  Governor  that  the 
sums  offered  him  might  be  usefully  employed  for  some  public  object. 
A  proposition  was  therefore  made  to  the  culprit  that  if  he  would  give 
150,000  roubles  for  the  construction  of  a  promenade  on  the  high  bank 
of  the  river,  he  would  be  allowed  to  escape  the  penalty  of  the  law. 
The  proposal  was  accepted,  and  the  money  paid,  and  then  began  the 
process  of  effecting  the  arrangement  with  all  the  appearance  of  legality. 
This  is  the  most  curious  part  of  the  affair.  Though  the  Governor  was 
a  powerful  man  and  could  do  all  manner  of  unlawful  things,  he  had 
to  respect  all  forms  and  formalities  most  scrupulously,  like  an  ordinary 
mortal.  A  little  official  comedy,  therefore,  had  to  be  played.  One 
document  certified  that  the  prisoner  had  died,  and  another,  duly 
signed,  gave  the  results  of  the  post-mortem  examination.  Then  the 
coffin,  which  was  supposed  to  contain  the  remains  of  the  deceased, 
received  the  rites  of  Christian  burial,  and  some  more  official  docu- 


ISO 


THADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


ments  were  drawn  up  and  signed.  Everything  was  done  in  such 
perfect  order  that  had  the  aSkir  been  afterwards  investigated  it  would 
have  been  found  that  no  irregularity  had  been  committed.  And  no 
one  had  any  reason  to  complain.  The  culprit  got  off  with  a  heavy 
fine,  which  taught  him,  let  us  hope,  to  avoid  forgery  for  the  future ; 
the  Governor  had  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  he  had  conferred  a 
great  benefit  on  the  town,  and  the  inhabitants  received  a  very  agree- 
able promenade  without  being  obliged  to  pay  for  its  construction. 

At  the  end  of  the  Promenade,  overlooking  the  river  and  the  wilder- 
ness aforesaid,  stands  a  long,  high  edifice,  built  originally  in  the 
barracks  style  of  architecture,  but  now  adorned,  somewhat  incohe- 
rently, with  Corinthian  columns.  This  is  the  Lyceum,  founded  for 
the  benefit  of  the  nobles  of  the  province  by  a  member  of  the  wealthy 
Demidof  family,  and  now  transformed  into  a  school  of  law  for  the 
benefit  of  the  whole  Empire.  There  are  juridical  faculties  in  all 
the  Universities— in  St.  Petersburg,  Moscow,  Kharkof,  Kief,  Odessa, 
and  Dorpat— but  this  is  the  only  public  school  devoted  exclusively  to 
the  study  of  law.  •  Let  us  enter  and  get  some  idea  of  what  a  Russian 
school  of  law  is.  We  cannot  but  be  charmed  by  the  general  appear- 
ance of  the  interior.  The  rooms  are  large,  well  ventilated,  scrupu- 
lously clean,  and  in  every  respect  admirably  arranged.  Here  is  a 
framed  document  showing  the  course  of  study.  The  completeness  of 
it  is  very  surprising,  and  certainly  not  to  be  expected  in  this  out-of-the- 
way  corner  of  the  world.  There  are  lectures  on  all  kinds  of  law — 
Roman,  Russian,  commercial,  criminal,  international — apd  also  on 
cognate  subjects,  such  as  juridical  philosophy,  political  economy,  and 
finance.  Youths  who  try  to  master  all  these  subjects  in  three  or  four 
years  are  apt  to  get  a  mere  smattering  of  many  things  without 
thoroughly  mastering  any.  But  a  few  minutes'  conversation  with  the 
enlightened  director  sufiice  to  allay  our  fears  on  this  score.  Whilst 
maintaining  that  a  course  of  study  should  be  wide  and  "liberal"  in 
the  best  sense  of  the  term,  he  recognizes  that  the  students  should 
confine  their  best  energies  to  a  few  fundamental  subjects,  and  regard 
the  others  as  merely  subsidiary  and  complementary.  From  the  class- 
rooms we  pass  to  the  library,  where  we  find  over  nine  thousand 
independent  works— perhaps  twice  as  many  volumes — in  various 
European  languages.  But  the  most  interesting  part  at  the  present 
moment  is  a  very   remarkable   collection   of  books   relating  to  the 


TRADE  AND   INDUSTRIES.  181 

Slavonic  province  of  Turkey,  and  in  general  to  the  Eastern  Question. 
On  that  subject  we  can  get  here  the  most  complete  information,  in 
important  contributions  from  Germany,  France,  and  the  Slavs  them- 
selves. Altogether,  the  arrangements  are  so  well  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  studious  that  we  feel  inclined  to  sit  down  and  begin  at  once  a 
long  course  of  reading  and  study.  But  we  must  not  yield  to  the 
temptation,  for  a  great  part  of  our  proposed  tour  lies  before  us. 

The  Volga  need  not  detain  us  very  long.  If  we  made  the  voyage  in 
the  flesh  we  should  have  to  devote  to  it  at  least  five  or  six  days  ;  but 
making  it  as  we  are  doing,  we  may  accomplish  it  in  a  very  few 
minutes.  The  banks  on  both  sides  for  some  time  after  leaving  Yaro- 
slaff  are  flat  and  uninteresting,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  large 
and  much-venerated  monastery  to  the  right,  we  notice  nothing  worthy 
of  special  attention  till  we  reach  Kostroma,  a  considerable  town, 
picturesquely  situated  on  a  bit  of  rising  ground  to  the  left.  Had  we 
time  to  disembark  here  we  should  be  sure  of  a  hearty  welcome  from  the 
worthy  and  hospitable  Vice-Governor.  Let  us  employ  the  few  minutes 
at  our  disposal  to  pay  our  respects  to  him,  and  then  go  on  by  the 
steamer.  The  night  is  spent  in  groping  our  way  cautiously  among 
shoals  and  sand-banks,  and  some  time  on  the  morrow  we  arrive  at 
Nizhni-Novgorod.  As  the  Great  Fair  is  at  present  going  on,  we  must 
remain  here  for  at  least  a  few  hours.  All  who  take  the  least  interest 
in  Russia  have  heard  of  this  great  annual  gathering,  which  is  some- 
times spoken  of  as  if  it  were  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world. 
We  must  not,  however,  expect  to  find  anything  very  wonderful.  In 
former  times,  perhaps,  when  Russian  commerce  wi?s  in  a  more  primi- 
tive condition,  the  Great  Fair  was  really  a  most  interesting  institution. 
Old  men  relate  how  numei-ous  merchants  from  China  and  from  all  the 
petty  states  of  Central  Asia  used  to  bring  their  goods  hither  for  sale  ; 
and  how  landed  proprietors  from  all  parts  of  the  country  used  to  come 
hither  for  the  purpose  of  laying  in  their  yearly  supply  of  household 
goods.  But  all  this  has  been  to  a  great  extent  modified  by  the  con- 
struction of  railways  and  similar  causes.  Traders  and  purchasers  still 
come  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  but  they  are  by  no  means  so 
numerous ;  and  the  number  of  Asiatics  which  one  meets  is  very  small. 
Much  has  been  done,  however,  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  do 
come.  Instead  of  the  miserable  wooden  sheds  in  which  the  merchan- 
dise waa  formerly  stored,  there  are  now  long  rows  of  brick  buildings ; 


182  TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 

and  the  spaces  between  them,  though  muddy  enough  in  wet  weather, 
can  at  all  times  be  forded  by  those  who  prudently  provide  themselves 
with  high  boots.  For  those  who  wish  to  study  the  peculiar  conditions 
of  Russian  trade,  two  or  three  weeks  may  be  profitably  employed  here, 
but  the  mere  tourist  who  is  in  search  of  nothing  more  serious  than 
"first  impressions"  will  find  a  few  hours  quite  sufiicient  for  his  purpose. 
By  that  time  he  will  have  seen  specimens  enough  of  the  big  burly 
Kussian  merchant,  the  patient,  listless  peasant,  the  unmistakable, 
irrepressible  Jew,  the  picturesque  Georgian,  the  polite,  keen-eyed  Per- 
sian, and  the  numerous  kinds  of  merchandise  which  these  various 
personages  offer  for  sale. 

At  Nizhni  we  leave  the  small,  uncomfortable,  flat-bottomed  steamer 
in  which  we  have  hitherto  travelled,  and  get  on  board  a  large  commo- 
dious steamer  built  on  the  American  model  and  resembling  closely 
those  that  ply  on  the  Hudson  and  the  Mississippi.  From  the  spacious 
upper  deck  we  can  enjoy  at  our  ease  what  little  scenery  there  is  to  see. 
The  left  bank  is  flat  and  uninteresting,  but  the  right  bank  sometimes 
rises  to  a  considerable  height  in  a  gently  sloping  fashion,  and  occa- 
sionally a  town  or  village  is  seen  on  the  slope.  On  both  sides  there 
are  pretty  bits  of  wooding,  and  on  the  whole  the  scenery,  though  tame, 
is  pleasing  enough.  Though  it  is  a  land  with  which  we  have  few 
bonds  of  sympathy,  and  the  names  of  the  places  we  pass  are  to  us  but 
empty  sounds,  which  convey  no  idea  and  awaken  no  old  memories,  yet 
the  country  through  which  we  are  passing  has  its  historical  associations, 
like  other  countries.  To  the  north  lies  the  land  of  the  Tchercmiss,  and 
to  the  south  the  land  of  the  Tchuvash,  and  in  both  of  them  many  a 
stubborn  battle  was  fought  between  Russians  and  Finns.  In  this 
valley  of  the  Volga  many  a  time  the  Tartar  hordes  swept  along  like  a 
whirlwind,  spreading  death  and  devastation  in  their  track.  There, 
beside  that  old  monastery,  sacred  to  Macarius,  is  a  spot  which  for  every 
Russian  must  be  classic  ground,  for  it  is  there  that  was  held,  in  ancient 
times,  the  Great  Fair  that  is  now  held  at  Nizhni.  We  soon  reach 
Kazan,  once  the  capital  of  an  independent  Khanate,  which  was  cap- 
tured by  Ivan  the  Terrible,  and  where  many  a  brave  Russian  found  a 
grave  before  its  walls.  At  the  junction  of  the  Volga  with  the  Kama, 
which  comes  down  from  the  Ural  Mountains,  is  a  monument  still  more 
ancient  and  venerable.  Not  far  from  the  river,  and  almost  visible 
from  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  stands  the  ruins  of  the  old  town  of 


TRADE  AND  INDUSTRIES. 


183 


A  Military  Reception  in  St.  Petersburg 


Bolgari,  an  ancient  capital  of  the  people  who  are  now  settled  to  the 
south  of  the  Danube  and  are  known  by  the  name  of  Bulgarians. 
Next  comes,  high  up  on  the  left  bank,  the  town  of  Simbirsk,  about 
which  there  is  not  much  to  be  said,  except  that  it  was  entirely  de- 
stroyed by  fire  some  fifteen  years  ago,  and  has  since  been  rebuilt. 
Then  the  Zhiguli  hills  heave  in  sight,  rich  in  traditions  as  the  Rhine- 
land,  and  once  frequented  by  freebooters  daring  as  those  of  the  Scottish 
Highlands,  whom  Walter  Scott  has  immortalized ! 

At  Tsaritsin  we  leave  the  steamer  and  cross  over  to  the  Don,  which 
is  only  about  thirty  or  forty  miles  distant.  Whilst  driving  through 
the  town,  preparatory  to  starting,  we  notice  one  thing  that  is  very 
characteristic.  On  the  market-place  and  close  to  the  railway  station 
we  observe  two  strange  looking  tents,  and  on  going  nearer,  we  see  that 
it  is  a  little  colony  of  Kalmucks.  Such  are  the  curious  contrasts  to 
be  found  in  Russia — pastoral  nomads  and  railway  porters  within  a 
stone  throw  of  each  other. 

After   a   fearful  amount  of  jolting  on  the  execrably  constructed 


1§4'  TRADE     AND   INDUSTRIES. 

railway,  which  here  connects  the  Volga  with  the  Don,  we  reach 
Kalatch  and  get  on  board  the  steamer.  The  scenery  of  the  Don  ia 
still  less  interesting  than  that  of  the  Volga,  and  the  navigation,  in 
spite  of  the  flat  bottoms  and  small  draught  of  the  steamers,  is  still 
more  intricate  and  difficult.  We  have,  however,  the  feeling  that  Ave 
are  at  least  in  a  semi-historical  country.  We  have  all  heard  of  the 
famous  Cossacks  of  the  Don — though  we  may  know  little  about  the 
details  of  their  history  and  their  long  struggle  with  the  Tartars — and, 
accordingly,  we  look  with  interest  at  the  specimens  which  we  meet  on 
board.  Fine,  big,  muscular  fellows  they  are,  and  much  more  amiable 
and  communicative  than  their  exterior  would  lead  us  to  suppose. 
They  are  not  a  peculiar  race,  as  is  often  supposed,  but  genuine  Rus- 
sians— the  descendants  of  men  who  in  old  times  fled  from  the  central 
provinces  to  the  Steppe,  where  they  could  lead  the  life  of  "bold 
borderers."  From  their  habit  of  capturing  Tartar  women  they  became 
to  some  extent  a  mixed  race ;  but  this  admixture  of  Tartar  blood  was 
never  very  great,  and  did  not  much  aflfect  their  character.  Many  of 
them,  especially  on  the  lower  Don,  are  of  dark  complexion,  and  do 
not  much  resemble  the  fair-haired  peasant  of  the  north ;  but  their 
features  are  thoroughly  European,  and  they  are  thoroughly  Eussian 
both  in  language  and  sentiment.  If  you  happen  to  hold  any  peculiar 
theory  about  the  Cossacks  being  Tartars  you  had  better  not  mention 
it  in  their  presence,  for  they  would  consider  the  idea  an  insult,  and 
they  are  not  yet  sufllciently  imbued  with  the  scientific  spirit  to  discuss 
such  questions  with  coolness  and  impartiality.  They  now  compose 
a  kind  of  irregular  cavalry,  and  are  of  great  use  in  such  expeditions 
as  the  Russians  have  to  make  occasionally  in  Central  Asia.  Two 
good  qualities,  at  least,  they  undoubtedly  possess:  they  are  indi- 
vidually brave,  and  they  have  the  talent  of  being  able  to  live  and 
thrive  where  regular  troops  would  starve.  No  doubt,  in  the  present 
war  they  will  thoroughly  enjoy  a  brush  with  their  old  enemies,  the 
Circassians,  and  there  will  probably  be  a  good  deal  of  "  paying  off  old 
scores." 

On  arriving  at  Rostoff — not,  of  course,  the  Rostoff"  already  alluded 
to — near  the  mouth  of  the  river,  we  find  a  railway  that  will  convey  us 
to  the  foot  of  the  Caucasus.  So  recently  as  three  years  ago  this  journey 
had  to  be  made  with  post-horses,  and  those  who  have  made  it  in  that 
primitive  fashion  will  certainly  congratulate  themselves  that  it  can 


TRADE     AND   INDUSTRIES.  185 

now  be  done  in  a  more  rapid  way.  To  see  a  country  and  to  know 
something  about  it,  posting  is  a  much  better  means  of  travelling  than 
railways,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances  the  intelligent  traveller 
will  willingly  bear  the  additional  discomforts  and  annoyances  for  the 
sake  of  the  additional  advantages.  But  in  a  region  like  that  which 
stretches  from  the  mouth  of  the  Don  to  the  Caucasus  these  advantages 
form  a  poor  compensation  for  the  tedium  and  discomforts  of  the 
journey.  The  country  is  solemnizingly  flat  and  very  thinly  popu- 
lated, and  between  the  post  stations  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but 
bare  steppe.  The  only  point  of  interest  on  the  route  is  Piatigorsk, 
where  five  high  isolated  hills  rise  abruptly  from  the  plain,  and  some 
rich  mineral  springs  have  created  a  town  of  considerable  size  and 
importance.  From  Piatigorsk  onwards  the  route  is  more  interesting, 
for  in  clear  weather  the  main  range  of  the  Caucasus  is  clearly  visible. 
Slowly  but  surely  it  approaches,  in<^reasing  every  hour  in  grandeur, 
till  we  find  ourselves  in  Vladikavkaz  on  the  Terek — a  small  town 
commanding  the  entrance  to  the  famous  Dariel  Pass,  through  which 
we  must  drive  hurriedly,  admiring,  of  course,  the  grand  scenery  as  we 
go,  but  refraining  from  all  excursions  in  those  tempting  side  valleys. 
First  along  the  banks  of  the  Terek ;  then  through  the  narrow  gorge 
and  up  to  the  bleak  stations  of  Kazbek  and  Kobi ;  next  over  the  high 
ridge,  and  then  rapidly  down  by  a  tributary  of  the  Kur  to  the  smiling 
plains  of  Georgia.  As  we  approach  Tiflis  we  see  before  us  one  of  the 
most  picturesque  towns  in  the  world — half  European,  half  Asiatic. 

The  railway  from  Tiflis  to  Poti  is  a  new  line,  finished  at  great 
expense  a  few  years  ago.  After  passing  over  the  Suram  ridge  the 
train  descends  by  gradients,  which  make  the  unaccustomed  traveller 
feel  uncomfortably  nervous,  into  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Kion,  and  in 
the  evening  arrives  at  Poti,  a  small  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

It  is  a  small  place,  built  on  a  marsh,  and  so  unwholesome  that  no 
inhabitant,  it  is  said,  escapes  fever.  The  entrance  to  the  port — if  port 
it  can  be  called — is  so  shallow  that  only  flat-bottomed  steamers  can 
pass  over  the  bar — a  fact  that  explains  why  the  Russians  covet  Batoum, 
a  fine  Turkish  port  a  little  further  down  the  coast.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  hours  we  begin  to  feel  the  depressing  eflfect  of  the  heavy,  feverish 
atmosphere,  and  are  glad  to  get  on  board  the  steamer  and  take  our 
departure. 

A  coasting  voyage  of  two  or  three  days  brings  us  to  classic  ground 


186 


TRADE     AND  IlfDUSTRIES. 


with  which  we  are  all  familiar — Kertch,  Theodosia,  Balaklava,  Sebas- 
topol.  Did  time  permit  we  should  land  at  Kertch,  and  proceed  by- 
road, so  as  to  enjoy  fully  the  wonderful  scenery  along  the  coast ;  but 
our  time  is  short,  and  we  prefer  devoting  the  little  that  remains  at  our 
disposal  to  visiting  Sebastopol  and  its  neighborhood.  The  town  is 
Still  to  a  great  extent  in  ruins.  It  is  only  since  the  abolition  of  the 
clause  of  the  treaty  of  Paris  relating  to  the  Black  Sea,  that  it  has 
begun  to  show  signs  of  revival.  The  subsequent  completion  of  the 
railway  uniting  it  with  the  rest  of  the  Empire  has  laid  for  it  the 
foundations  of  a  new  prosperity,  but  a  death-like  stillness  continues  to 
hang  over  the  place.  On  the  heights  surrounding  the  city  everything 
remains  pretty  much  as  it  was  when  the  Allies  left  it.  "With  a  melan- 
choly interest  we  visit  the  places  whose  names  are  still  so  familiar  to  us, 
and  here  and  there  in  some  lonely  spot  we  unexpectedly  come  upon  a 
graveyard  with  English  as  well  as  Russian  names  on  the  tombstones. 


Russians  Prili-aring  Supplies   for  the  Hospitals. 


RUSSIAN    VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES.  187 

CHAPTER  X. 

RUSSIAN"  TILLAGE  COMMUNITIES. 

Having  gained  some  notion  of  the  habits  and  occupations  of  the 
peasantry,  our  attention  will  naturally  turn  to  the  constitution  of  the 
village.  This  is  a  subject  of  special  interest,  as  the  Mir,  or  village 
system,  is  the  most  peculiar  of  Russian  institutions. 

The  peasant  family  of  the  old  type  is  a  kind  of  primitive  association, 
in  which  the  members  have  nearly  all  things  in  common.  The  village 
may  be  roughly  described  as  a  primitive  association  on  a  larger  scale. 

Between  these  two  social  units  there  are  many  points  of  analogy. 
In  both  there  are  common  interests  and  common  responsibilities.  In 
both  there  is  a  principal  personage,  who  is  in  a  certain  sense  ruler 
within,  and  representative  as  regards  the  outside  world ;  in  the  one 
case  called  Khozain,  or  Head  of  the  Household,  and  in  the  other 
Starosta,  or  Village  Elder.  In  both  the  authority  of  the  ruler  is 
limited ;  in  the  one  case  by  the  adult  members  of  the  family,  and  in 
the  other  by  the  heads  of  households.  In  both  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  common  property ;  in  the  one  case  the  house  and  nearly  all 
that  it  contains,  and  in  the  other  the  arable  land  and  pasturage.  In 
both  cases  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  common  responsibility ;  in  the 
one  case  for  all  the  debts,  and  in  the  other  for  all  the  taxes  and  Com- 
munal obligations.  And  both  are  protected  to  a  certain  extent  against 
the  ordinary  legal  consequences  of  insolvency,  for  the  family  cannot 
be  deprived  of  its  house  or  necessary  agricultural  implements,  and  the 
Commune  cannot  be  deprived  of  its  land,  by  importunate  creditors. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  many  important  points  of  contrast. 
The  Commune  is,  of  course,  much  larger  than  the  family,  and  the 
mutual  relations  of  its  members  are  by  no  means  so  closely  interwoven. 
The  members  of  a  family  all  farm  together,  and  those  of  them  who 
earn  money  from  other  sources  are  expected  to  put  their  savings  into 
the  common  purse;  whilst  the  households  composing  a  Commune  farm 
independently,  and  pay  into  the  common  treasury  only  a  certain 
fixed  sum. 

From  these  brief  remarks  the  reader  will  at  once  perceive  that  a 


188  JiUSSIAN  VILLAGE   COMMUNITLES. 

Kussian  village  is  something  very  different  from  a  village  in  our  sense 
of  the  term,  and  that  the  villagers  are  bound  together  by  ties  quite 
unknown  to  the  American  rural  population.  A  family  living  in  an 
American  village  has  little  reason  to  take  an  interest  in  the  aifairs  of 
its  neighbors.  The  isolation  of  the  individual  families  may  not  be 
quite  perfect;  for  man,  being  a  social  animal,  takes,  and  ought  to 
take,  a  certain  interest  in  the  affairs  of  those  around  him,  and  this 
social  duty  is  sometimes  fulfilled  by  the  weaker  sex  with  more  zeal 
than  is  absolutely  indispensable  for  the  public  welfare;  but  families 
may  live  for  many  years  in  the  same  village  without  ever  becoming 
conscious  of  common  interests.  So  long  as  the  Jones  family  do  not 
commit  any  culpable  breach  of  public  order,  such  as  putting  obstruc- 
tions on  the  highway  or  habitually  setting  their  house  on  fire,  their 
neighbor  Brown  takes  probably  no  interest  in  their  affairs,  and  has  no 
ground  for  interfering  with  their  perfect  liberty  of  action.  Jones  may 
be  a  drunkard  and  hopelessly  insolvent,  and  he  may  some  night 
decamp  clandestinely  with  his  whole  family  and  never  more  be  heard 
of;  but  all  these  things  do  not  affect  the  interests  of  Brown,  unless  he 
has  been  imprudent  enough  to  entertain  with  the  delinquent  more 
than  simple  neighborly  relations.  Now,  amongst  the  families  compos- 
ing a  Eussian  village,  such  a  state  of  isolation  is  impossible.  The  Heads 
of  Households  must  often  meet  together  and  consult  in  the  Village 
Assembly,  and  their  daily  occupations  must  be  influenced  by  the 
Communal  decrees.  They  cannot  begin  to  mow  the  hay  or  plow  the 
fallow  field  until  the  Village  Assembly  has  passed  a  resolution  on  the 
subject.  If  a  peasant  becomes  a  drunkard,  or  takes  some  equally 
efficient  means  to  become  insolvent,  every  family  in  the  village  has  a 
right  to  complain,  not  merely  in  the  interests  of  public  morality,  but 
from  selfish  motives,  because  all  the  families  are  collectively  re- 
sponsible for  his  taxes.  For  the  same  reason  no  peasant  can  per- 
manently leave  the  village  without  the  consent  of  the  Commune,  and 
this  consent  will  not  be  granted  until  the  applicant  gives  satisfactory 
security  for  the  fulfillment  of  all  his  actual  and  future  liabilities.  If 
a  peasant  wishes  to  go  away  for  a  short  time,  in  order  to  work  else- 
where, he  must  obtain  a  written  permission,  which  serves  him  as  a 
passport  during  his  absence;  and  he  may  be  recalled  at  any  moment 
by  a  Communal  decree.  In  reality  he  is  rarely  recalled  so  long  as  he 
sends  home  regularly  the  full  amount  of  his  taxes — including  the  dues 


RUSSIAN   VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES. 


189 


190  RUSSIAN   VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES. 

which  he  has  to  pay  for  the  temporary  passport — but  sometimes  the 
Commune  uses  the  power  of  recall  for  the  purpose  of  extorting  money 
from  the  absent  member.  If  it  becomes  known,  for  instance,  that  an 
absent  member  receives  a  good  salary  in  one  of  the  towns,  he  may  one 
day  receive  a  formal  order  to  return  at  once  to  his  native  village,  and 
be  informed  at  the  same  time,  unofficially,  that  his  presence  will  be 
dispensed  with  if  he  will  send  to  the  Commune  a  certain  amount  of 
money.  The  money  thus  sent  is  generally  used  by  the  Commune  for 
convivial  purposes. 

In  order  to  understand  the  Russian  village  system,  the  reader  must 
bear  in  mind  these  two  important  facts:  the  arable  land  and  the 
pasturage  belong  not  to  the  individual  houses,  but  to  the  Commune, 
and  all  the  households  are  collectively  and  individually  responsible  for 
the  entire  sum  which  the  Commune  has  to  pay  annually  into  the 
Imperial  Treasury. 

In  all  countries  the  theory  of  government  and  administration  differs 
considerably  from  the  actual  practice.  Nowhere  is  this  difference 
greater  than  in  Russia,  and  in  no  Russian  institution  is  it  greater  than 
in  the  Village  Commune.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  know  both 
theory  and  practice ;  and  it  is  well  to  begin  with  the  former,  because 
it  is  the  simpler  of  the  two.  When  we  have  once  thoroughly  mastered 
the  theory,  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  deviations  that  are  made  to 
suit  peculiar  local  conditions. 

According,  then,  to  theory,  all  male  peasants  in  every  part  of  the 
Empire  are  inscribed  in  census  lists,  which  form  the  basis  of  the  direct 
taxation.  These  lists  are  revised  at  irregular  intervals,  and  all  males 
alive  at  the  time  of  the  "  revision,"  from  the  new-born  babe  to  the 
centenarian,  are  duly  inscribed.  Each  Commune  has  a  list  of  this 
kind,  and  pays  to  the  Government  an  annual  sum  proportionate  to  the 
number  of  names  which  the  list  contains,  or,  in  popular  language, 
according  to  the  number  of  "  revision  souls."  During  the  intervals 
between  the  revisions  the  financial  authorities  take  no  notice  of  the 
births  and  deaths.  A  Commune  which  has  a  hundred  male  members 
at  the  time  of  the  revision  may  have  in  a  few  years  considerably  more 
or  considerably  less  than  that  number,  but  it  has  to  pay  taxes  for  a 
hundred  members  all  the  same  until  a  new  revision  is  made  for  the 
whole  Empire. 

Now  in  Russia,  so  far  at  loast  as  the  rural  population  is  concerned, 


RUSSIAN   VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES.  191 

the  payment  of  taxes  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  possession  of 
land.  Every  peasant  who  pays  taxes  is  supposed  to  have  a  share  of 
the  arable  land  and  pasturage  belonging  to  the  Commune.  If  the 
Communal  revision  lists  contain  a  hundred  names,  the  Communal 
land  ought  to  be  divided  into  a  hundred  shares,  and  each  "  revision 
soul"  should  enjoy  his  share  in  return  for  the  taxes  which  he  pays. 

The  reader  who  has  followed  these  explanations  up  to  this  point 
may  naturally  conclude  that  the  taxes  paid  by  the  peasants  are  in  re- 
ality a  species  of  rent  for  the  land  which  they  enjoy.  So  it  seems,  and 
so  it  is  sometimes  represented,  but  so  in  reality  it  is  not.  When  a  man 
rents  a  bit  of  land  he  acts  according  to  his  own  judgment,  and  makes 
a  voluntary  contract  with  the  proprietor;  but  the  Russian  peasant  is 
obliged  to  pay  his  taxes  whether  he  desires  to  enjoy  land  or  not.  The 
theory,  therefore,  that  the  taxes  are  simply  the  rent  of  the  land,  will 
not  bear  even  superficial  examination.  Equally  untenable  is  the 
theory  that  they  are  a  species  of  land-tax.  In  any  reasonable  system 
of  land-dues  the  yearly  sum  imposed  bears  some  kind  of  proportion  to 
the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  land  enjoyed ;  but  in  Russia  it  may  be 
that  the  members  of  one  Commune  possess  six  acres,  and  the  members 
of  the  neighboring  Commune  seven  acres,  and  yet  the  taxes  in  both 
cases  are  the  same.  The  truth  is  that  the  taxes  are  personal,  and  are 
calculated  according  to  the  number  of  male  "souls,"  and  the  Govern- 
ment does  not  take  the  trouble  to  inquire  how  the  Communal  land  is 
distributed.  The  Commune  has  to  pay  into  the  Imperial  Treasury  a 
fixed  yearly  sum,  according  to  the  number  of  its  "  eevision  souls,"  and 
distributes  the  land  among  its  members  as  it  thinks  fit. 

How,  then,  does  the  Commune  distribute  the  land?  To  this  ques- 
tion it  is  impossible  to  give  a  definite  general  reply,  because  each 
Commune  acts  as  it  pleases.  Some  act  strictly  according  to  the  theory. 
These  divide  their  land  at  the  time  of  the  revision  into  a  number  of 
portions  or  shares  corresponding  to  the  number  of  revision  souls,  and 
give  to  each  family  a  number  of  shares  corresponding  to  the  number  of 
revision  souls  which  it  contains.  This  is  from  the  administrative  point 
of  view  by  far  the  simplest  system.  The  census  list  determines  how 
much  land  each  family  will  enjoy,  and  the  existing  tenures  are  dis- 
turbed only  by  the  revisions  which  take  place  at  irregular  intervals. 
Since  1719  only  ten  revisions  have  been  made,  so  that  the  average 
length  of  these  intervals  has  been  about  fifteen  years — a  term  which 


192  RUSSIAN   VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES. 

may  be  regarded  as  a  tolerably  long  lease.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
this  system  has  serious  defects.  The  revision  list  represents  merely 
the  numerical  strength  of  the  families,  and  the  numerical  strength  is 
often  not  at  all  in  proportion  to  the  working  power.  Let  us  suppose, 
for  example,  two  families,  each  containing  at  the  time  of  the  revision 
five  male  members.  According  to  the  census  list  these  two  families 
are  equal,  and  ought  to  receive  equal  shares  of  the  land ;  but  in  reality 
it  may  happen  that  the  one  contains  a  father  in  the  prime  of  life  and 
four  able-bodied  sons,  whilst  the  other  contains  a  widow  and  five  little 
boys.  The  wants  and  working  power  of  these  two  families  are  of 
course  very  different;  and  if  the  above  system  of  distribution  be 
applied,  the  man  with  four  sons  and  a  goodly  supply  of  grandchildren 
will  probably  find  that  he  has  too  little  laud,  whilst  the  widow  with 
her  five  little  boys  will  find  it  difficult  to  cultivate  the  five  shares 
allotted  to  her,  and  utterly  impossible  to  pay  the  corresponding  amount 
of  taxation — for  in  all  cases,  it  must  be  remembered,  the  Communal 
burdens  are  distributed  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  land. 

But  why,  it  may  be  said,  should  the  widow  not  accept  provisionally 
the  five  shares,  and  let  to  others  the  part  which  she  does  not  require  ? 
The  balance  of  rent  after  payment  of  the  taxes  might  help  her  to 
bring  up  her  young  family. 

So  it  seems  to  one  acquainted  only  with  the  rural  economy  of 
countries  where  land  is  scarce,  and  always  gives  a  revenue  more  than 
sufficient  to  defray  the  taxes.  But  in  Eussia  the  possession  of  a  share 
of  Communal  land  is  often  not  a  privilege,  but  a  burden.  In  some 
Communes  the  land  is  so  poor  and  abundant  that  it  cannot  be  let  at 
any  price.  Witness,  for  instance,  many  villages  in  the  province  of 
Smolensk,  where  the  traveller  may  see  numerous  uncultivated  strips  in 
the  Communal  fields.  In  others  the  soil  will  repay  cultivation,  but  a 
fair  rent  Avill  not  suffice  to  pay  the  taxes  and  dues. 

To  obviate  these  inconvenient  results  of  the  simpler  system,  some 
Communes  have  adopted  the  expedient  of  allotting  the  land,  not 
according  to  the  number  of  revision  souls,  but  according  to  the  work- 
ing power  of  the  families.  Thus,  in  the  instance  above  supposed,  the 
widow  would  receive  perhaps  two  shares,  and  the  large  household,  con- 
taining five  workers,  would  receive  perhaps  seven  or  eight.  Since  the 
brcaking-up  of  the  large  families,  such  inequality  is,  of  course,  rare; 
but  inequality  of  a  less  extreme  kind  does  still  occur,  and  justifies  a 
departure  from  the  system  of  allotment  according  to  the  revision  lists. 


RUSSIAN    VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES. 


193 


A  Reunion  of  Russian  Soldiers. 


Even  if  the  allotment  be  fair  and  equitable  at  the  time  of  the 
revision,  it  may  soon  become  unfair  and  burdensome  by  the  natural 
fluctuations  of  the  population.  Births  and  deaths  may  in  the  course 
of  a  very  few  years  entirely  alter  the  relative  working  power  of  the 
various  families.  The  sons  of  the  widow  may  grow  up  to  manhood, 
whilst  two  or  three  able-bodied  members  of  the  other  family  may  be 
cut  off  by  an  epidemic.  Thus,  long  before  a  new  revision  takes  place, 
the  distribution  of  the  land  may  be  no  longer  in  accordance  with  the 
wants  and  capacities  of  the  various  families  composing  the  Commune. 
To  correct  this,  various  expedients  are  employed.  Some  Communes 
transfer  particular  lots  from  one  family  to  another,  as  circumstances 
demand ;  whilst  others  make  from  time  to  time,  during  the  intervals 
between  the  revisions,  a  complete  re-distribution  and  re-allotment  of 
the  land. 

The  system  of  allotment  adopted  depends  entirely  on  the  will  of  the 
particular  Commune.  In  this  respect  the  Communes  enjoy  the  most 
complete  autonomy,  and  no  peasant  ever  dreams  of  appealing  against 
a  Communal  decree.     The  higher  authorities  not  only  abstain  from  all 


194  RUSSIAN   VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES. 

interference  in  the  allotment  of  the  Communal  lands,  but  remain  in 
profound  ignorance  as  to  which  system  the  Communes  habitually 
adopt.  Though  the  Imperial  Administration  has  a  most  voracious 
appetite  for  symmetrically-constructed  statistical  tables,  no  attempt  has 
yet  been  made  to  collect  statistical  data  which  might  throw  light  on 
this  important  subject.  In  spite  of  the  systematic  and  persistent  eiforts 
of  the  centralized  bureaucracy  to  regulate  minutely  all  departments 
of  the  national  life,  the  rural  Communes,  which  contain  about  five- 
sixths  of  the  population,  remain  in  many  respects  entirely  beyond  its 
influence,  and  even  beyond  its  sphere  of  vision!  But  let  not  the 
reader  be  astonished  overmuch.  He  will  learn  in  time  that  Russia  is 
the  land  •f  paradoxes ;  that  in  the  great  stronghold  of  Cresarian  despot- 
ism and  centralized  bureaucracy,  these  Village  Communes,  containing 
about  five-sixths  of  the  population,  are  capital  specimens  of  represen- 
tative Constitutional  governments  of  the  extreme  democratic  type! 

Their  constitution  is  not  a  formal  document,  in  which  the  functions 
of  the  various  institutions,  the  powers  of  the  various  authorities,  and 
all  the  possible  methods  of  jirocedure  are  carefully  defined;  but  a 
body  of  unwritten,  traditional  conceptions,  which  have  gro'.vn  up  and 
modified  themselves  under  the  influence  of  ever-changing  practical 
neccessit»y.  If  the  functions  and  mutual  relations  of  the  Village 
Elder  and  the  Assembly  have  ever  been  defined,  neither  the  Elders 
nor  the  members  of  the  Assembly  know  anything  of  such  definitions; 
and  yet  every  peasant  knows,  as  if  by  instinct,  what  each  of  these 
authorities  can  and  cannot  do.  The  Commune  is,  in  fact,  a  living 
institution,  whose  spontaneous  vitality  enables  it  to  dispense  wi'Ja  the 
assistance  and  guidance  of  the  written  law. 

As  to  its  thoroughly  democratic  character  there  can  be  no  possible 
doubt.  The  Elder  represents  merely  the  executive  power.  All  the  real 
authority  resides  in  the  Assembly,  of  which  all  Heads  of  Households 
arc  members. 

The  simple  procedure,  or  rather  the  absence  of  all  formal  proce- 
dure, at  the  Assemblies  illustrates  admirably  the  essentially  practical 
character  of  the  institution.  The  meetings  are  held  in  the  open  air, 
because  in  the  village  there  is  no  building — except  the  church,  Avhich 
can  be  used  only  for  religious  purposes — large  enough  to  contain  all 
the  members;  and  they  almost  always  take  place  on  Sundays  or 
holidays,  when  the  peasants  have  plenty  of  leisure.     Any  open  space, 


JiUSSIAN   VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES.  195 

•wliere  there  is  sufficient  room  and  little  mud,  serves  as  a  Forum.  The 
discussions  are  occasionally  very  animated,  but  there  is  rarely  any 
attempt  at  speech-making.  If  any  young  member  should  show  an 
inclination  to  indulge  in  oratory,  he  is  sure  to  be  unceremoniously 
interrupted  by  some  of  the  older  members,  who  have  never  any 
sympathy  with  fine  talking.  The  whole  assemblage  has  the  appearance 
of  a  crowd  of  people  who  have  accidentally  come  together,  and  are 
discussing  in  little  groups  subjects  of  local  interest.  Gradually  one 
group,  containing  two  or  three  peasants  who  have  more  moral  influence 
than  their  fellows,  attracts  the  others,  and  the  discussion  becomes 
general.  Two  or  more  peasants  may  speak  at  a  time,  and  interrupt 
each  other  freely — using  plain,  unvarnished  language,  not  at  all 
parliamentary — and  the  discussion  may  become  for  a  few  moments  a 
confused,  unintelligible  noise ;  but  at  the  moment  when  the  spectator 
imagines  that  the  consultation  is  about  to  be  transformed  into  a  pro- 
miscuous fight,  the  tumult  spontaneously  subsides,  or  perhaps  a  general 
roar  of  laughter  announces  that  some  one  has  been  successfully  hit  by 
a  strong  arffumentum  ad  hominem,  or  biting  personal  remark.  In  any 
case  there  Is  no  danger  of  the  disputants  coming  to  blows.  IS'o  class 
of  men  in  the  world  is  more  good-natured  and  pacific  than  the  Russian 
peasantry.  When  sober  they  never  fight,  and  even  when  under  the 
influence  of  alcohol  they  are  more  likely  to  be  violently  afiectionate 
than  disagreeably  quarrelsome.  If  two  of  them  take  to  drinking 
together,  the  probability  is  that  in  a  few  minutes,  though  they  may 
never  have  seen  each  other  before,  they  will  be  expressing  in  very 
strong  terms  their  mutual  regard  and  afiection,  confirming  their  words 
with  an  occasional  friendly  embrace. 

Theoretically  speaking,  the  Village  Parliament  has  a  Speaker,  in 
the  person  of  a  Village  Elder.  The  word  Speaker  is  etymologically 
less  objectionable  than  the  term  President,  for  the  personage  in  question 
never  sits  down,  but  mingles  in  the  crowd  like  the  ordinary  members. 
The  Elder  is  officially  the  principal  personage  in  the  crowd,  and  wears 
the  insignia  of  office  in  the  form  of  a  small  medal  suspended  from  his 
neck  by  a  thin  brass  chain.  His  duties,  however,  are  extremely  light. 
To  call  to  order  those  who  interrupt  the  discussion  is  no  part  of  his 
function.  If  he  calls  an  honorable  member  Durak  (blockhead),  or 
interrupts  an  orator  with  a  laconic  "Moltchi!"  (hold  your  tongue!), 
he  does  so  in  virtue  of  no  special  prerogative,  but  simply  in  accordance 


196  RUSSIAN   VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES^ 

with  a  time-honored  privilege,  which  is  equally  enjoyed  by  all  present, 
and  may  be  employed  with  impunity  against  himself.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  said  in  general  that  the  phraseology  and  the  procedure  are  not 
subjected  to  any  strict  rules.  The  Elder  comes  prominently  forward 
only  when  it  is  necessary  to  take  the  sense  of  the  meeting.  On  such 
occasions  he  may  stand  back  a  little  from  the  crowd  and  say,  "  Well, 
orthodox,  have  you  decided  so  ?"  and  the  crowd  will  probably  shout, 
"Ladno!  ladno!"  that  is  to  say,  "Agreed!  agreed!" 

Communal  measures  are  generally  carried  in  this  way  by  acclama- 
tion ;  but  it  sometimes  happens  that  there  is  such  a  decided  diversity 
of  opinion  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  which  of  the  two  parties  has  a 
majority.  In  this  case  the  Elder  requests  the  one  party  to  stand  to 
the  right  and  the  other  to  the  left.  The  two  groups  are  then  counted, 
and  the  minority  submits,  for  no  one  ever  dreams  of  opposing  openly 
the  will  of  the  Commune. 

In  the  croAvd  may  generally  be  seen,  especially  in  the  northern  pro- 
vinces, where  a  considerable  portion  of  the  male  population  is  always 
absent  from  the  village,  a  certain  number  of  female  peasants.  These 
are  women  who,  on  account  of  the  absence  or  death  of  their  husbands, 
happen  to  be  for  the  moment  Heads  of  Households.  As  such  they  are 
entitled  to  be  present,  and  their  right  to  take  part  in  the  deliberations 
is  never  called  in  question.  In  matters  affecting  the  general  welfare 
of  the  Commune  they  rarely  speak,  and  if  they  do  venture  to  express 
an  opinion  on  such  occasions  they  have  little  chance  of  commanding 
attention,  for  the  Eussian  peasantry  are  as  yet  little  imbued  with  the 
modern  doctrines  of  female  equality,  and  express  their  opinion  of 
female  intelligence  by  the  homely  adage:  "The  hair  is  long,  but  the 
mind  is  short."  According  to  one  proverb,  seven  women  have  collec- 
tively but  one  soul,  and  according  to  a  still  more  ungallant  popular 
saying,  women  have  no  souls  at  all,  but  only  a  vapor.  AVoman, 
therefore,  as  woman,  is  not  deserving  of  much  consideration,  but  a 
particular  woman,  as  head  of  a  household  is  entitled  to  speak  on  all 
questions  directly  affecting  the  household  under  her  care.  If,  for 
instance,  it  be  proposed  to  increase  or  diminish  her  household's  share 
of  the  land  and  the  burdens,  she  will  be  allowed  to  speak  freely  on  the 
subject,  and  even  to  indulge  in  a  little  personal  invective  against  her 
male  opponents.  She  thereby  exposes  herself,  it  is  true,  to  uncompli- 
mentary remarks;  but  any   which  she   happens  to  receive   she   will 


RUSSIAN   VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES.  197 


Russian  Peasants  at  Home. 

probably  repay  with  interest — referring,  perhaps,  with  pertinent  viru- 
lence to  the  domestic  affairs  of  those  who  attack  her.  And  when 
argument  and  invective  fail,  she  is  pretty  sure  to  try  the  effect  of 
pathetic  appeal,  supported  by  copious  tears — a  method  of  persuasion 
to  which  the  Russian  peasant  is  singularly  insensible. 

The  Assembly  discusses  all  matters  affecting  the  Communal  welfare, 
and,  as  these  matters  have  never  been  legally  defined,  and  there  is  no 
means  of  appealing  against  its  decisions,  its  recognized  competence  is 
very  wide.  It  fixes  the  time  for  making  the  hay,  and  the  day  for 
commencing  the  plowing  of  the  fallow  field ;  it  decrees  what  measures 
shall  be  employed  against  those  who  do  not  punctually  pay  their 
taxes ;  it  decides  whether  a  new  member  shall  be  admitted  into  the 
Commune,  and  whether  an  old  member  shall  be  allowed  to  change 
his  domicile ;  it  gives  or  withholds  permission  to  erect  new  buildings 
on  the  Communal  land ;  it  prepares  and  signs  all  contracts  which  the 
Commune  makes  with  one  of  its  own  members  or  with  a  stranger ;  it 
interferes,  whenever  it  thinks  necessary,  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  its 


198  RUSSIAN-  VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES, 

members ;  it  elects  the  Elder — as  well  as  the  Commuual  tax  collector, 
and  watchman,  where  such  offices  exist — and  the  Commuual  herd-boy; 
above  all,  it  divides  and  allots  the  Communal  land  among  the  members 
as  it  thinks  fit. 

Of  all  these  various  proceedings,  the  reader  may  naturally  assume 
that  the  elections  are  the  most  noisy  and  exciting.  In  reality  this  is 
a  mistake.  The  elections  produce  little  excitement,  for  the  simple 
reason  that,  as  a  rule,  no  one  desires  to  be  elected.  Once,  it  is  said,  a 
peasant  who  had  been  guilty  of  some  misdemeanor  was  informed  by 
an  Arbiter  of  the  Peace,  that  he  would  be  no  longer  capable  of  filling 
any  Communal  office;  and  instead  of  regretting  this  diminution  of  his 
civil  rights,  he  bowed  vei-y  low,  and  respectfully  expressed  his  thanks 
for  the  new  privilege  which  he  had  acquired.  This  anecdote  may  not 
be  true,  but  it  illustrates  the  undoubted  fact  that  the  Russian  peasant 
regards  office  as  a  burden  rather  than  as  an  honor.  There  is  no  civic 
ambition  in  those  little  rural  Commonwealths,  whilst  the  privilege  of 
wearing  a  bronze  medal,  which  commands  no  respect,  and  the  recep- 
tion of  a.  few  roubles  as  salary,  afford  no  adequate  compensation  for 
the  trouble,  annoyance,  and  responsibility  which  a  Village  Elder  has 
to  bear.  The  elections  are  therefore  generally  very  tame  and  unin- 
teresting. 

Far  more  important  than  the  elections,  is  the  redistribution  of  the 
Communal  land.  It  can  matter  but  little  to  the  Head  of  a  House- 
hold how  the  elections  go,  provided  he  himself  is  not  chosen.  But  he 
cannot  remain  a  passive,  indifferent  spectator,  when  the  division  and 
allotment  of  the  land  come  to  be  discussed,  for  the  material  welfare  of 
every  household  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  amount  of  land  and 
of  burdens  which  it  receives. 

In  the  southern  provinces,  where  the  soil  is  fertile  and  the  taxes  do 
not  exceed  the  normal  rent,  the  process  of  division  and  allotment  is 
comparatively  simple.  Here  each  peasant  desires  to  get  as  much  land 
as  possible,  and  consequently  each  household  demands  all  the  land  to 
which  it  is  entitled — that  is  to  say,  a  number  of  shares  equal  to  the 
number  of  its  members  inscribed  in  the  last  revision  list.  The  As- 
sembly has,  therefore,  no  difficult  questions  to  decide.  The  Conmiunal 
revision  list  determines  the  number  of  shares  into  which  the  laud  must 
be  divided,  and  the  number  of  shares  to  be  allotted  to  each  family. 
The  only  difficulty  likely  to  arise  is  as  to  which  particular  shares  a 


RUSSIAN  VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES.  199 

particular  family  shall  receive,  and  this  difficulty  is  commonly  obviated 
by  the  custom  of  casting  lots.  There  may  be,  it  is  true,  some  differ- 
ence of  opinion  as  to  when  a  redistribution  should  be  made,  but  this 
question  is  easily  decided  by  a  simple  vote  of  the  Assembly. 

Very  different  is  the  process  of  division  and  allotment  in  many 
Communes  of  the  northern  provinces.  Here  the  soil  is  often  very 
barren,  and  the  taxes  exceed  the  normal  rent,  and  consequently  it 
may  happen  that  the  peasants  strive  to  have  as  little  land  as  possible. 
After  the  number  of  shares  for  each  family  has  been  decided,  the 
distribution  of  the  lots  gives  rise  to  new  difficulties.  The  families 
who  have  manured  plentifully  their  land  strive  to  get  back  their  old 
lots,  and  the  Commune  respects  their  claims  so  far  as  these  are  con- 
sistent with  the  new  arrangement;  but  often  it  happens  that  it  is 
impossible  to  conciliate  private  rights  and  Communal  interests,  and  in 
such  cases  the  former  are  sacrificed  in  a  way  that  would  not  be 
tolerated  by  men  of  Anglo-Saxon  race.  This  leads,  however,  to  no 
serious  consequences.  The  peasants  are  accustomed  to  work  together 
in  this  way,  to  make  concessions  for  the  Communal  welfare,  and  to 
bow  unreservedly  to  the  will  of  the  Commune.  There  are  many 
instances  where  the  peasants  have  set  at  defiance  the  authority  of  the 
police,  of  the  provincial  governor,  and  of  the  central  Government 
itself,  but  we  have  never  heard  of  any  instance  where  the  will  of  the 
Commune  was  openly  opposed  by  one  of  its  members. 

In  the  preceding  pages  we  have  repeatedly  spoken  about  "  shares  of 
the  Communal  land,"  To  prevent  misconception,  we  must  explain 
carefiilly  what  this  expression  means.  A  share  does  not  mean  simply 
a  plot  or  parcel  of  land ;  on  the  contrary,  it  always  contains  at  least 
four,  and  may  contain  a  large  number  of  distinct  plots. 

Communal  land  in  Russia  is  of  three  kinds :  the  land  on  which  the 
village  is  built,  the  arable,  and  the  meadow  or  hay-field.  On  the  first 
of  these  each  family  possesses  a  house  and  garden,  which  are  the 
hereditary  property  of  the  family,  and  are  never  aflected  by  the 
periodical  redistributions.  The  other  two  kinds  are  both  subject  to 
redistribution,  but  on  somewhat  different  principles. 

The  whole  of  the  Communal  arable  land  is  first  of  all  divided  into 
three  fields,  to  suit  the  triennial  rotation  of  crops  already  described, 
and  each  field  is  divided  into  a  number  of  long  narrow  strij^s — corres- 
ponding to  the  number  of  male  members  in  the  Commune — as  nearly 


200  RUSSIAN   VILLAGE    COMMUNITIES. 

as  possible  equal  to  each  other  in  area  and  quality.  Sometimes  it  is 
necessary  to  divide  the  field  into  several  portions,  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  soil,  and  then  to  subdivide  each  of  these  portions  into 
the  requisite  number  of  strips.  Thus  in  all  cases  every  household 
possesses  at  least  one  strip  in  each  field;  and  in  those  cases  where 
subdivision  is  necessary,  every  household  possesses  a  strip  in  each  of 
the  portions  into  which  the  field  is  subdivided.  This  complicated 
process  of  division  and  subdivision  is  accomplished  by  the  peasants 
themselves,  with  the  aid  of  simple  measuring-rods,  and  the  accuracy 
of  the  result  is  truly  marvelous. 

The  meadow,  which  is  reserved  for  the  production  of  hay,  is  divided 
into  the  same  number  of  shares  as  the  arable  laud.  There,  however, 
the  division  and  distribution  take  place  not  at  irregular  intervals,  but 
annually.  Every  year,  on  a  day  fixed  by  the  Assembly,  the  villagers 
proceed  in  a  body  to  this  part  of  their  property,  and  divide  it  into  the 
requisite  number  of  jjortions.  Lots  are  then  cast,  and  each  family  at 
once  mows  the  portion  allotted  to  it.  In  some  Communes  the  meadow 
is  mown  by  all  the  peasants  in  common,  and  the  hay  aftei'wards  dis- 
tributed by  lot  among  the  families ;  but  this  system  is  by  no  means  so 
frequently  used. 

As  the  whole  of  the  Communal  land  thus  resembles  to  some  extent 
a  big  farm,  it  is  necessary  to  make  certain  rules  concerning  cultivation, 
A  family  may  sow  what  it  likes  in  the  land  allotted  to  it,  but  all 
families  must  at  least  conform  to  the  accepted  system  of  rotation.  In 
like  manner,  a  family  cannot  begin  the  autumn  plowing  before  the 
appointed  time,  because  it  would  thereby  interfere  with  the  rights  of 
the  other  families,  who  use  the  fallow  field  as  pasturage. 

It  is  not  a  little  strange  that  this  primitive  system  of  land  tenure 
should  have  succeeded  in  living  into  the  nineteenth  century,  and  still 
more  remarkable  that  the  institution  of  which  it  forms  an  essential 
part  should  be  regarded  by  many  intelligent  people  as  one  of  the  great 
institutions  of  the  future,  and  almost  as  a  panacea  for  social  and 
political  evils.  The  explanation  of  these  facts  forms  an  interesting 
chapter  of  Russian  social  history. 


J^USSTAN  VILLAGE   COMMUNITIES. 


A  Streei  Scene  in  Moscow. 


202  THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE  CLASSES. 

Those  who  wish  to  enjoy  the  illusions  produced  by  scene-painting 
and  stage  decorations  should  never  go  behind  the  scenes.  In  like 
manner  he  who  wishes  to  jDreserve  the  delusion  that  Russian  towns 
are  picturesque  should  never  enter  them,  but  content  himself  with 
viewing  them  from  a  distance.  A  walk  through  the  streets  inevitably 
dispels  the  illusion,  and  proves  satisfactorily  that  irregularity,  even 
when  combined  with  squalor,  is  not  necessarily  jDicturesque. 

However  imposing  Russian  towns  may  look  when  seen  from  the 
outside,  they  will  generally  be  found  on  closer  inspection  to  be  little 
more  than  villages  in  disguise.  If  they  have  not  a  positively  rustic, 
they  have  at  least  a  suburban  aj^pearance.  The  streets  are  straight 
and  wide,  and  are  either  miserably  paved  or  not  paved  at  all.  The 
houses  are  built  of  wood  or  stone,  generally  one-storied,  and  separated 
from  each  other  by  spacious  yards.  Many  of  them  do  not  condescend 
to  turn  their  facades  to  the  street.  The  general  impression  produced 
is  that  the  majority  of  the  burghers  have  come  from  the  country,  and 
have  brought  their  country  houses  with  them.  There  are  few  or  no 
shops  with  merchandise  tastefully  arranged  in  the  window  to  tempt 
the  passer-by.  If  you  wish  to  make  purchases  you  must  go  to  the 
Gostinny  Dvor,  or  Bazaar,  which  consists  of  long  symmetrical  rows  of 
low-roofed,  dimly-lighted  stores,  with  a  colonnade  m  front.  This  is 
the  place  where  merchants  most  do  congregate,  but  it  presents  nothing 
of  that  bustle  and  activity  which  we  are  accustomed  to  associate  with 
commercial  life.  The  shopkeepers  stand  at  their  doors  or  loiter  about 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  waiting  for  customers.  From  the  scarcity 
of  these  latter  it  is  likely  that  when  sales  are  effected  the  profits  must 
be  enormous.  In  the  other  parts  of  the  town  the  air  of  solitude  and 
languor  is  still  more  conspicuous.  In  the  great  square,  or  by  the  side 
of  the  promenade — if  the  town  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  one — cows 
or  horses  may  be  seen  grazing  tranquilly,  without  being  at  all  con- 
scious of  the  incongruity  of  their  position.  And,  indeed,  it  would  be 
strange  if  they  had  any  such  consciousness,  for  it  does  not  exist  in  the 


THE   TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES.  203 

minds  either  of  the  police  or  of  the  inhabitants.  At  night  the  streets 
are  not  lighted  at  all,  or  are  supplied  merely  "with  a  few  oil  lamps, 
which  do  little  more  than  render  the  darkness  visible,  so  that  cautious 
citizens  returning  home  late  often  arm  themselves  with  lanterns.  A 
few  yeai-s  ago  an  honorable  town-councilor  of  Moscow  opposed  a 
project  for  lighting  the  city  with  gas,  and  maintained  that  those  who 
chose  to  go  out  at  night  should  carry  their  lamps  with  them.  The 
objection  was  overruled,  and  Moscow  was  supjilied  with  gas  lamps, 
but  very  few  of  the  provincial  towns  have  as  yet  followed  the  example 
of  the  ancient  capital. 

This  description  does  not  apply  to  St.  Petersburg  and  Odessa,  but 
these  cities  may  for  the  present  be  left  out  of  consideration,  for  they 
have  a  distinctly  foreign  character.  The  genuine  Russian  towns — and 
Moscow  may  still  almost  be  included  in  the  number — have  a  semi- 
rustic  air,  or  at  least  the  appearance  of  those  retired  suburbs  of  a 
large  city  which  are  still  free  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  municipal 
authorities. 

The  scarcity  of  towns  in  Russia  is  not  less  remarkable  than  their 
rustic  appearance.  The  word  is  used  here  in  the  popular  and  not  in 
the  official  sense.  In  official  language  a  town  means  a  collection  of 
houses,  containing  certain  organs  of  administration,  and  hence  the 
term  is  sometimes  applied  to  petty  villages.  Let  us  avoid,  then,  the 
official  list  of  the  towns,  and  turn  to  the  statistics  of  population.  It 
may  be  presumed  that  no  town  is  worthy  of  the  name  unless  it  contains 
at  least  10,000  inhabitants.  Now,  if  we  apply  this  test,  we  shall  find 
that  in  the  whole  of  European  Russia  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the 
term — excluding  Finland,  the  Baltic  provinces,  Lithuania,  Poland, 
and  the  Caucasus,  which  are  politically  but  not  socially  parts  of 
Russia — there  are  only  127  towns.  Of  these  only  twenty -five  contain 
more  than  25,000,  and  only  eleven  contain  more  than  50,000  inhabi- 
tants. 

These  facts  indicate  plainly  that  in  Russia,  as  compared  with 
Western  Europe,  the  urban  element  in  the  population  is  relatively 
small ;  and  this  conclusion  is  borne  out  by  statistical  data.  In  Russia 
the  urban  element  composes  only  a  tenth  part  of  the  entire  population, 
whereas  in  Great  Britain  more  than  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  are 
dwellers  in  towns.  A  serious  effi)rt  to  discover  the  causes  of  this 
would  bring  out  some  striking  peculiarities  in  the  past  history  and 


204  THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 

present  condition  of  the  Russian  Empire,  and  we  propose  now  to 
communicate  a  few  results  of  sucli  an  investigation. 

The  chief  cause  is  that  Russia  is  much  less  densely  populated  than 
Western  Europe,  Towards  the  East  she  has  never  had  a  natural 
frontier,  but  always  a  wide  expanse  of  fertile,  uncultivated  land,  offer- 
ing a  tempting  field  for  emigration ;  and  the  peasantry  have  ever 
shown  themselves  ready  to  take  advantage  of  their  geographical 
position.  Instead  of  improving  their  primitive  system  of  agriculture, 
which  requires  an  enormous  area  and  rapidly  exhausts  the  soil,  they 
have  always  found  it  easier  and  more  profitable  to  emigrate  and  take 
possession  of  the  virgin  land  to  the  eastward.  Thus  the  territory — 
sometimes  with  the  aid  of,  and  sometimes  in  spite  of,  the  Government 
— has  constantly  expanded,  and  has  already  reached  Behring's  Straits 
and  the  northern  offshoots  of  the  Himalayas.  The  little  district 
around  the  sources  of  the  Dnieper  has  grown  into  a  great  empire  forty 
times  as  large  as  France,  and  in  all  this  vast  area  there  are  only 
about  eighty  millions  of  inhabitants.  Prolific  as  the  Russian  race  is, 
its  powers  of  reproduction  could  not  keep  pace  with  its  power  of 
territorial  expansion,  and  consequently  the  country  is  still  very  thinly 
peopled,  the  population  of  European  Russia  being  only  about  fourteen 
to  the  square  verst.  Even  the  most  densely  populated  region — ^the 
northern  part  of  the  Black-earth  zone — has  only  about  forty  to  the 
square  verst.  A  people  that  has  such  an  abundance  of  land,  and  can 
support  itself  by  agriculture,  is  not  likely  to  devote  itself  to  industry, 
and  not  likely  to  congregate  in  towns. 

The  second  cause  which  hindered  the  formation  of  towns  was 
serfage.  Serfage,  and  the  administrative  system  of  which  it  formed  a 
part,  hemmed  the  natural  movements  of  the  population.  The  nobles 
habitually  lived  on  their  estates,  and  taught  a  portion  of  their  serfs  to 
supply  them  with  nearly  everything  they  required ;  and  the  peasants 
who  might  desire  to  settle  as  artisans  in  the  towns  were  not  free  to  do 
so,  because  they  were  attached  to  the  soil.  Thus  arose  those  curious 
village  industries  of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 

The  insignificance  of  the  Russian  towns  is  in  part  explained  by 
these  two  causes.  The  abundance  of  land  tended  to  prevent  the 
development  of  industry,  and  the  little  industry  which  did  exist  was 
prevented  by  serfage  from  collecting  in  the  towns.  But  this  explana- 
tion is  evidently  incomplete.     The  same  causes  existed  during  the 


THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 


205 


The  Mail  Coach  from  Kars  to  Alexandropol,  with  Russian  Escort. 

Middle  Ages  in  Central  Europe,  and  yet,  in  spite  of  them,  flourishing 
cities  grew  up  and  played  an  important  part  in  the  social  and  political 
history  of  Germany.  In  these  cities  collected  traders  and  artisans, 
forming  a  distinct  social  class,  distinguished  from  the  nobles  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  surrounding  peasantry  on  the  other,  by  peculiar 
occupations,  peculiar  aims,  peculiar  intellectual  physiognomy,  and 
peculiar  moral  code.  Now  why  did  these  important  towns  and  this 
burgher  class  not  likewise  come  into  existence  in  Russia,  in  spite  of 
the  two  preventive  causes  above  mentioned  ? 

To  discuss  this  question  fully  it  would  be  necessary  to  enter  into 
certain  debated  points  of  mediseval  history.  All  we  can  do  here  is  to 
indicate  what  seems  to  be  the  true  explanation. 

In  Central  Europe,  all  through  the  Middle  Ages,  a  perpetual 
struggle  went  on  between  the  various  political  factors  of  which  society 
was  composed,  and  the  important  towns  were  in  a  certain  sense  the 
product  of  this  struggle.  However  the  towns  may  have  originally 
come  into  existence,  it  is  certain  that  they  were  preserved  and  fostered 
by  the  mutual  rivalry  of  the  Sovereign,  the  Feudal  Nobility,  and  the 


206  THE    TOWNS  AND   MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 

Church ;  and  those  who  desired  to  live  by  trade  or  industry  were 
obliged  to  settle  iu  them  in  order  to  enjoy  the  protection  and  immuni- 
ties which  they  afforded.  In  Russia  there  was  never  any  political 
struggle  of  this  kind.  As  soon  as  the  Grand  Princes  of  Moscow,  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  threw  off  the  yoke  of  the  Tartars,  and  made 
themselves  Czars  of  all  Russia,  their  power  was  irresistible  and  un- 
contested. Complete  masters  of  the  situation,  they  organized  their 
country  as  they  thought  fit.  At  first  their  policy  was  favorable  to 
the  development  of  the  towns.  Perceiving  that  the  mercantile  and 
industrial  classes  might  be  made  a  rich  source  of  revenue,  they 
separated  them  from  the  peasantry,  gave  them  the  exclusive  right  of 
trading,  prevented  the  other  classes  from  competing  with  them,  and 
freed  them  from  the  authority  of  the  landed  proprietors.  Had  they 
carried  out  this  policy  iu  a  cautious,  rational  way,  they  might  have 
created  a  rich  burgher  class ;  but  they  acted  with  true  Oriental  shorts 
sightedness,  and  defeated  their  own  purpose.  Forgetting  the  welfare 
of  the  governed  in  their  desire  to  benefit  themselves,  they  imposed 
inordinately  heavy  taxes,  and  treated  the  urban  population  as  their 
serfs.  The  richer  merchants  were  forced  to  serve  as  custom-house 
officers — often  at  a  great  distance  from  their  domiciles — and  artisans 
were  yearly  summoned  to  Moscow  to  do  work  for  the  Czars  without 
remuneration.  Besides  this,  the  system  of  taxation  was  radically 
defective,  and  the  members  of  the  local  administration  who  received 
no  pay  and  were  practically  free  from  control  were  merciless  in  their 
exactions.  In  a  word,  the  Czars  used  their  power  so  awkwardly  and 
so  recklessly  that  the  industrial  and  trading  population,  instead  of 
fleeing  to  the  towns  to  secure  protection,  fled  from  them  to  escape 
oppression.  At  length  this  emigration  from  the  towns  assumed  such 
dimensions  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  prevent  it  by  administrative 
and  legislative  measures ;  and  the  urban  poiiulation  were  legally  fixed 
in  the  towns  as  the  rural  population  were  fixed  to  the  soil.  Those 
who  fled  were  brought  back  as  runaways,  and  those  who  attempted 
flight  a  second  time  were  ordered  to  be  flogged  and  transported  to 
Siberia. 

At  the  l)cginuing  of  the  last  century  began  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  the  towns  and  of  the  urban  population.  Peter  the  Great  observed, 
during  liis  travels  in  Western  Euroi)o,  tliat  national  wealth  and  pros- 
perity reposed  chiefly  on  the  enterprising,  educated  middle  classes,  and 


THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE    CLASSES.  207 

he  attributed  the  poverty  of  his  own  country  to  the  absence  of  this 
burgher  element.  Might  not  such  a  class  be  created  in  Russia? 
Peter  unhesitatingly  assumed'that  it  might,  and  set  himself  at  once  to 
create  it  in  a  simple,  straightforward  way.  Foreign  artisans  were 
imported  into  his  dominions,  and  foreign  merchants  were  invited  to 
trade  with  his  subjects ;  young  Russians  were  sent  abroad  to  learn  the 
useful  arts ;  efforts  were  made  to  disseminate  practical  knowledge  by 
the  translation  of  foreign  books  and  the  foundation  of  schools;  all 
kinds  of  trade  were  encouraged,  and  various  industrial  enterprises 
were  organized.  At  the  same  time  the  administration  of  the  towns 
was  thoroughly  reorganized  after  the  model  of  the  ancient  free-towns 
of  Germany.  In  place  of  the  old  organization,  which  was  a  slightly 
modified  form  of  the  rural  Commune,  they  received  German  municipal 
institutions,  with  burgomasters,  town-councils,  courts  of  justice,  guilds 
for  the  merchants,  trade  corporations  (Tsekhi)  for  the  artisans,  and  an 
endless  list  of  instructions  regarding  the  development  of  trade  and 
industry,  the  building  of  hospitals,  sanitary  precautions,  the  founding 
of  schools,  the  dispensation  of  justice,  the  organization  of  the  police, 
and  similar  matters. 

Catherine  II.  followed  in  the  same  track.  If  she  did  less  for 
developing  trade  and  industry,  she  did  more  in  the  way  of  legislating 
and  writing  grandiloquent  manifestoes.  In  the  course  of  her  historical 
studies  she  had  learned,  as  she  proclaimed  in  one  of  her  manifestoes, 
that  "from  remotest  antiquity  we  everywhere  find  the  memory  of 
town-builders  elevated  to  the  same  level  as  the  memory  of  legislators, 
and  we  see  that  heroes,  famous  for  their  victories,  hoped  by  town- 
building  to  give  immortality  to  their  names."  As  the  securing  of 
immortality  for  her  own  name  was  her  chief  aim  in  life,  she  acted  in 
accordance  with  historical  precedent,  and  created  two  hundred  and 
sixteen  towns  in  the  short  space  of  twenty-three  years.  This  seems  a 
great  work,  but  it  did  not  satisfy  her  ambition.  She  was  not  only  a 
student  of  history,  but  at  the  same  time  a  Avarm  admirer  of  the  fash- 
ionable political  philosophy  of  her  time.  That  philosophy  paid  much 
attention  to  the  tiers-etat,  which  was  then  acquiring  in  France  great 
political  importance,  and  Catherine  thought  that,  as  she  had  created  a 
noblesse  on  the  French  model,  she  might  also  create  a  bourgeoisie. 
For  this  purpose  she  modified  the  municipal  organization  created  by 
her  great  predecessor,   and  granted  to  all   the  towns  an   Imperial 


208  THE   TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 

Charter.  This  charter  remained  without  essential  modification  down 
to  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign. 

These  efforts  to  create  a  rich,  intelligent  tiers-etat  have  not  been 
attended  Avith  much  success.  Their  influence  has  always  been  more 
apparent  in  official  documents  than  in  real  life.  The  great  mass  of 
the  population  remained  serfs,  fixed  to  the  soil,  whilst  the  nobles — 
that  is  to  say,  all  who  possessed  a  little  education — were  required  for 
the  military  and  civil  services.  Those  who  were  sent  abroad  to  learn 
the  useful  arts  learned  little,  and  made  little  use  of  the  knowledge 
which  they  acquired.  On  their  return  to  their  native  country  they  very 
soon  fell  victims  to  the  soporific  influence  of  the  surrounding  social 
atmosphere.  The  "town-building"  has  as  little  practical  result.  It 
was  an  easy  matter  to  create  any  number  of  towns  in  the  official  sense 
of  the  term.  To  transform  a  village  into  a  town,  it  was  necessary 
merely  to  prepare  an  izba,  or  log-house,  for  the  district  court,  another 
for  the  police  office,  a  third  for  the  prison,  and  so  on.  On  an  appointed 
day  a  Government  official  arrived  from  the  provincial  capital,  col- 
lected the  officials  destined  to  serve  in  the  newly-constructed  or 
newly-arranged  log-houses,  ordered  a  simple  religious  ceremony  to  be 
performed  by  the  priest,  caused  a  formal  act  to  be  written,  and  then 
declared  the  town  to  be  "opened."  All  this  required  very  little 
creative  effort,  but  it  was  not  so  easy  to  create  a  spirit  of  commercial 
and  industrial  enterprise  among  the  population.  That  could  not  be 
effected  by  Imperial  ukase. 

To  animate  the  newly-imported  municipal  institutions,  which  had 
no  root  in  the  traditions  and  habits  of  the  people,  was  a  task  of  equal 
difficulty.  In  the  AVestern  nations  these  institutions  had  been  slowly 
devised  in  the  course  of  centuries  to  meet  real,  keenly-felt,  practical 
wants.  In  Russia  they  were  adopted  for  the  purpose  of  creating  those 
wants  which  were  not  yet  felt.  The  office-bearers,  elected  against 
their  will,  were  hopelessly  bewildered  by  the  complicated  procedure, 
and  were  incapable  of  understanding  the  numerous  ukases,  prescribing 
to  them  their  multifarious  duties,  and  threatening  the  most  merciless 
punishments  for  sins  of  omission  and  commission.  Soon,  however,  it 
was  discovered  that  the  threats  were  not  nearly  so  dreadful  as  they 
seemed;  and  accordingly  those  municipal  authorities,  who  were  to 
protect  and  enlighten  the  burghers,  "forgot  the  fear  of  God  and  the 
Czars,"  and  extorted  so  unblushingly,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
place  them  under  the  control  of  Government  officials. 


THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 


209 


Roumanian  Priests  at  Ploesti,  Blessing  the  Emperor  of  Russia  with 
14  Bread  and  Wine. 


210  THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE    CLASSES. 

The  chief  practical  result  of  the  efforts  made  by  Peter  and  Catherine 
to  create  a  bourgeoisie  was  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns  were 
more  systematically  arranged  in  categories  for  the  purpose  of  taxation, 
and  that  the  taxes  were  increased.  All  those  parts  of  the  new  admin- 
istration which  had  no  direct  relation  to  the  fiscal  interests  of  the 
Government  had  no  inherent  life  or  spontaneous  activity.  The  truth 
is  that  the  whole  system  had  been  arbitrarily  imposed  on  the  people, 
and  had  no  motive  power  except  the  Imperial  will.  Had  that  motive 
power  been  withdrawn,  and  the  burghers  left  to  regulate  their  own 
municipal  affairs,  the  system  would  immediately  have  collapsed.  Rath- 
haus,  burgomasters,  guilds,  aldermen,  and  all  the  other  lifeless  shadows 
which  had  been  called  into  existence  by  Imperial  ukase,  would  in- 
stantly have  vanished  into  space.  In  this  fact  we  have  one  ^of  the 
characteristic  traits  of  Russian  historical  development  compared  Avith 
that  of  Western  Europe.  In  the  west  of  Europe  monarchy  had  to 
struggle  with  municipal  institutions  to  prevent  them  from  becoming 
too  powerful ;  in  Russia,  it  had  to  struggle  with  them  to  prevent  them 
from  committing  suicide  or  dying  of  inanition. 

According  to  Catherine's  legislation,  which  remained  in  full  force 
down  to  the  present  reign,  and  still  exists  in  its  main  features,  towns 
are  of  three  kinds:  (1)  "Government  towns"  (gubernskie  goroda) — 
that  is  to  say,  the  chief  towns  of  provinces,  or  "  Governments" 
(gubernii) — in  which  are  concentrated  the  various  organs  of  provin- 
cial administration ;  (2)  District  towns  (uyezdnie  gorodti),  in  which 
resides  the  administration  of  the  districts  (uyezdi)  into  which  the 
provinces  are  divided;  and  (3)  Supernumerary  towns  (zashtatnie 
gorodd),  which  have  no  particular  significance  in  the  territorial  ad- 
ministration. 

In  all  these  the  municipal  organization  is  the  same.  Leaving  out 
of  consideration  those  persons  who  happen  to  reside  in  the  towns  but 
in  reality  belong  to  the  noblesse,  the  clergy,  or  the  lower  rank  of 
officials,  we  may  say  that  the  town  population  is  composed  of  three 
groups:  the  merchants,  the  burghers  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the 
term,  and  the  artisans.  Those  categories  are  not  hereditary  castes, 
like  the  nobles,  the  clergy,  and  the  peasantry.  A  noble  may  become 
a  merchant,  or  a  man  may  be  one  year  a  burgher,  the  next  year  an 
artisan,  and  the  third  year  a  merchant,  if  he  changes  his  occupation 
and  pays  the  necessary  dues.     But  the  categories  form,  for  the  time 


THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES.  211 

being,  distinct  corporations,  each  possessing  a  peculiar  organization 
and  peculiar  privileges  and  obligations. 

Of  these  three  groups  the  first  in  the  scale  of  dignity  is  that  of  the 
merchants.  It  is  chiefly  recruited  from  the  burghers  and  the  peas- 
antry. Any  one  who  wishes  to  engage  in  commerce  inscribes  himself 
in  one  of  the  three  guilds,  according  to  the  amount  of  his  capital  and 
the  nature  of  the  operations  in  which  he  wishes  to  embark,  and  as 
soon  as  he  has  paid  the  required  dues,  he  becomes  officially  a  mer- 
chant. As  soon  as  he  ceases  to  pay  these  dues  he  ceases  to  be  a 
merchant  in  the  legal  sense  of  the  term,  and  returns  to  the  class  to 
which  he  formerly  belonged.  There  are  some  families  whose  members 
have  belonged  to  the  merchant  class  for  several  generations,  and  the 
law  speaks  about  a  certain  "  velvet-book"  in  which  their  names  should 
be  inscribed,  but  in  reality  they  do  not  form  a  distinct  category,  and 
they  descend  at  once  from  the  privileged  position  as  soon  as  they  cease 
to  pay  the  annual  guild  dues. 

The  artisans  form  the  connecting  link  between  the  town  population 
and  the  peasantry,  for  peasants  often  enroll  themselves  in  the  trades 
corporations,  or  Tsekhi,  without  severing  their  connection  with  the 
rural  Communes  to  which  they  belong.  Each  trade  or  handicraft 
constitutes  a  Tsekh,  at  the  head  of  which  stands  an  elder  and  two 
a-?sistants,  elected  by  the  members ;  and  all  the  Tsekhi  together  form  a 
corporation  under  an  elected  head,  assisted  by  a  council  composed  of 
the  elders  of  the  various  Tsekhi.  It  is  the  duty  of  this  council  and 
its  president  to  regulate  all  matters  connected  with  the  Tsekhi,  and  to 
see  that  the  multifarious  regulations  regarding  masters,  journeymen, 
and  apprentices  are  duly  observed. 

The  nondescript  class,  composed  of  those  who  are  inscribed  as  per- 
manent inhabitants  of  the  towns  but  who  do  not  belong  to  any  guild 
or  Tsekh,  constitutes  what  is  called  the  burghers  in  the  narrower 
ssnse  of  the  term.  Like  the  other  two  categories,  they  form  a  separate 
corporation  with  an  elder  and  an  administrative  bureau. 

Some  idea  of  the  relative  numerical  strength  of  these  three  cate- 
gories may  be  obtained  from  the  following  figures.  In  European 
Russia  the  merchant  class  (including  wives  and  children)  numbers 
about  466,000,  the  burghers  about  4,033,000,  and  the  artisans  about 
260,000. 

The  link  of  connection  between  these  three  categories  is  the  Town 


212  THE    TOWNS  AND   MERCANTILE    CLASSES. 

Council,  the  central  and  highest  order  of  the  municipal  administra- 
tion, with  its  president  the  Mayor.  A  few  years  ago  this  body  was 
thoroughly  reorganized  according  to  the  most  recent  theories  of 
municipal  administration ;  and  now  all  house-proprietors,  to  whatever 
class  they  belong,  may  take  part  in  its  proceedings,  and  serve  as  its 
office-bearers.  The  consequence  of  this  has  been  that  many  towns 
have  now  a  noble  as  mayor,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  spirit  of  the 
institution  has  radically  changed.  Very  few  seek  election,  and  those 
who  are  elected  display  very  little  zeal  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 
Not  long  ago  it  was  proposed,  in  the  town  council  of  St.  Petersburg, 
to  insure  the  presence  of  a  quorum  by  imposing  fines  for  non-atten- 
dance !  This  fact  speaks  volumes  for  the  low  vitality  of  these  institu- 
tions. When  such  an  incident  occurs  in  the  capital,  we  can  readily 
imagine  what  takes  place  in  the  provincial  towns. 

The  development  of  trade  and  industry  has,  of  course,  enriched  the 
mercantile  classes,  but  it  has  not  affected  deeply  their  mode  of  life.  Of 
all  classes  in  the  empire,  they  are  the  most  conservative.  When  a  Rus- 
sian merchant  becomes  rich,  he  builds  for  himself  a  fine  house,  or  buys 
and  thoroughly  repairs  the  house  of  some  ruined  noble,  and  spends 
money  freely  on  inlaid  floors,  gigantic  mirrors,  malachite  tables,  grand 
pianos  by  the  best  makers,  and  other  articles  of  furniture  made  of  the 
most  costly  materials.  Occasionally — especially  on  the  occasion  of  a 
marriage  or  a  death  in  the  family — he  will  give  magnificent  banquets, 
and  expend  enormous  sums  on  gigantic  sterlets,  choice  sturgeons,  foreign 
fruits,  champagne,  and  all  manner  of  costly  delicacies.  But  all  this 
lavish,  ostentatious  expenditure  does  not  affect  the  ordinary  current  of 
his  daily  life.  As  you  enter  those  gaudily-furnished  rooms  you  can 
perceive  at  a  glance  that  they  are  not  for  ordinary  use.  You  notice  a 
rigid  symmetry  and  an  indescribable  bareness  which  inevitably  sug- 
gest that  the  original  arrangements  of  the  upholsterer  have  never  been 
modified  or  supplemented.  The  truth  is  that  by  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  house  is  used  only  on  state  occasions.  The  host  and  his  family 
Jive  down  stairs  in  small,  dirty  rooms,  furnished  in  a  very  diflTerent, 
and  for  them  more  comfortable,  style.  At  ordinary  times  the  fine 
rooms  are  closed,  and  the  fine  furniture  carefully  covered.  If  you 
make  a  visit  after  an  entertainment  at  which  you  have  been  present, 
you  will  probably  have  some  difficulty  in  gaining  admission  by  the 
front  door.     When  you  have  knocked  or  rung  several  times,  some  one 


THE    TOWNS  AND   MERCANTILE    CLASSES. 


213 


Religious  Devotion  on  Board  of  A  Black  Sea  Steamer. 

will  probably  come  around  from  tbe  back  regions  and  ask  you  what 
you  want.  Then  follows  another  long  pause,  and  at  last  footsteps  are 
heard  approaching  from  within.  The  bolts  are  drawn,  the  door  is 
opened,  and  you  are  led  up  to  a  spacious  drawing-room.  At  the  Avail 
opposite  the  windows  there  is  sure  to  be  a  sofa,  and  before  it  an  oval 
table.  At  each  end  of  the  table,  and  at  right  angles  to  the  sofa,  there 
will  be  a  row  of  three  arm-chairs.  The  other  chairs  will  be  symmet- 
rically arranged  around  the  room.  In  a  few  minutes  the  host  will 
appear,  in  his  long  double-breasted  black  coat  and  well-polished  long 
boots.  His  hair  is  parted  in  the  middle,  and  his  beard  shows  no 
trace  of  scissors  or  razor.  After  the  customary  greetings  have  been 
exchanged,  glasses  of  tea,  with  slices  of  lemon  and  preserves,  or 
perhaps  a  bottle  of  champagne,  are  brought  in  by  way  of  refreshment. 
The  female  members  of  the  family  you  must  not  expect  to  see,  unless 
you  are  an  intimate  friend ;  for  the  merchants  still  retain  something 
of  that  female  seclusion  which  was  in  vogue  among  the  upper  classes 
before  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  host  himself  will  probably 
be  an  intelligent  but  totally  uneducated  and  decidedly  taciturn  man. 


214  THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE    CLASSES. 

About  the  weather  and  the  crops  he  may  talk  fluently  enough,  but  he 
will  not  show  much  inclination  to  go  beyond  these  topics.  You  may 
perhaps  desire  to  converse  with  him  on  the  subject  with  which  he  is 
best  acquainted — the  trade  in  which  he  is  himself  engaged ;  but  if  vou 
make  the  attempt  you  will  certainly  not  gain  much  information. 

The  Russian  merchant's  love  of  ostentation  is  of  a  peculiar  kind — 
something  entirely  different  from  American  shoddyism.  He  may 
delight  in  gaudy  reception-rooms,  magnificent  dinners,  fast  trotters, 
costly  furs;  or  he  may  display  his  riches  by  princely  donations  to 
churches,  monasteries,  or  benevolent  institutions :  but  in  all  this  he 
never  affects  to  be  other  than  he  really  is.  He  habitually  wears  a 
costume  which  designates  plainly  his  social  position,  makes  no  attempt 
to  adopt  fine  manners  or  elegant  tastes,  and  never  seeks  to  gain 
admission  to  what  is  called  "  good  society."  Having  no  desire  to  seem 
what  he  is  not,  he  has  a  plain,  unaffected  manner,  and  sometimes  a 
certain  quiet  dignity,  which  contrasts  favorably  with  the  affected 
manner  of  those  nobles  of  the  lower  ranks  who  make  pretensions  to 
being  highly  educated,  and  strive  to  adopt  the  outward  forms  of 
French  culture.  At  his  great  dinners,  it  is  true,  the  merchant  likes 
to  see  among  his  guests  as  many  "generals" — that  is  to  say,  ofiicial 
personages — as  possible ;  but  he  never  dreams  of  thereby  establishing 
an  intimacy  with  these  persons,  or  of  being  invited  by  them  in  return. 
It  is  perfectly  understood  by  both  parties  that  nothing  of  the  kind  is 
meant.  The  invitation  is  given  and  accepted  from  quite  different 
motives.  The  merchant  has  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  at  his  table  men 
of  high  ofiicial  rank,  and  feels  that  the  consideration  which  he  enjoys 
among  people  of  his  own  class  is  thereby  augmented.  If  he  succeeds 
in  obtaining  the  presence  of  three  generals,  he  obtains  a  victory  over 
a  rival  who  cannot  obtain  more  than  two.  The  general,  on  his  side, 
gets  a  first-rate  dinner,  and  acquires,  in  return  for  the  honor  he  has 
conferred,  a  certain  undefined  right  to  request  subscriptions  for  public 
objects  or  benevolent  institutions. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  merchants  recognize  no  aristocracy 
but  that  of  ofiicial  rank.  Many  merchants  would  willingly  give  a 
large  sum  for  the  presence  of  an  "  actual  State-Councilor,"  who, 
perhaps,  never  heard  of  his  grandfather,  but  who  can  show  a  grand 
cordon,  whilst  they  would  not  give  a  dime  for  the  presence  of  an 
uudecorated  Prince  who  has  no  official  rank,  though  he  can  trace  his 


THE    TOWNS  AND   MERCANTILE    CLASSES.  215 

pedigree  up  to  the  half-mythical  Rurik.  Of  the  latter  they  would 
probably  say,  "  Kto  ikh  znaet  ?" — who  knows  what  sort  of  a  fellow  he 
is  ?  The  former,  on  the  contrary,  whoever  his  father  and  grandfather 
may  have  been,  possesses  unmistakable  marks  of  the  Czar's  favor, 
which,  in  the  merchant's  opinion,  is  infinitely  more  important  than 
any  rights  or  pretensions  founded  on  hereditary  titles  or  long  pedigree. 

These  marks  of  Imperial  favor  the  merchants  strive  to  obtain  for 
themselves.  They  do  not  dream  of  grands  cordons — that  is  far  beyond 
their  most^sanguine  expectations — but  they  do  all  in  their  power  to 
obtain  those  lesser  decorations  which  are  granted  to  the  mercantile 
class.  For  this  purpose  the  most  common  expedient  is  a  liberal 
subscription  to  some  benevolent  institution,  and  sometimes  a  regular 
bargain  is  made.  We  have  heard  of  at  least  one  instance  where  the 
kinc  of  decoration  was  expressly  stipulated.  A  merchant  subscribed 
to  a  society,  which  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  a  Grand  Duchess,  a 
cons.derable  sum  of  money,  under  the  express  condition  that  he  should 
rec&ve  in  return  a  St.  Vladimir  Cross.  Instead  of  the  desired  decora- 
tion, which  was  considered  too  much  for  the  sum  subscribed,  a  cross  of 
St  Stanislas  was  granted ;  but  the  donor  was  dissatisfied  with  the  latter, 
and  demanded  that  his  money  should  be  returned  to  him.  The 
demmd  had  to  be  complied  with,  and,  as  an  Imperial  gift  cannot  be 
retracted,  the  merchant  had  his  Stanislas  Cross  for  nothing. 

Tliis  traffic  in  decorations  has  had  its  natural  result.  Like  paper 
money  issued  in  too  large  quantities,  the  decorations  have  fallen  in 
▼alue.  The  gold  medals  Avhich  were  formerly  much  coveted  and  worn 
■vith  pride — suspended  by  a  ribbon  round  the  neck — are  now  little 
desired.  In  like  manner  the  inordinate  respect  for  official  personages 
aas  considerably  diminished.  Twenty  years  ago  the  provincial  mer- 
ihants  vied  with  each  other  in  their  desire  to  entertain  any  great 
dignitary  who  honored  their  town  with  a  visit,  but  now  they  seek 
rather  to  avoid  this  expensive  and  barren  honor.  When,  however, 
they  do  accept  the  honor,  they  fulfill  the  duties  of  hospitality  in  a 
most  liberal  spirit. 

The  two  great  blemishes  en  the  character  of  the  Russian  merchants 
as  a  class  are,  according  to  general  opinion,  their  ignorance  and  their 
dishonesty.  As  to  the  former  of  these  there  cannot  possibly  be  any 
difference  of  opinion.  The  great  majority  of  the  merchants  do  not 
possess  even  the  rudiments  of  education.     Many  of  them  can  neither 


216  THE    TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE    CLASSES. 

read  nor  write,  and  are  forced  to  keep  tlieir  accounts  in  their, memory, 
or  by  means  of  ingenious  hieroglyphics,  intelligible  only  to  the  inventor. 
Others  can  decipher  the  calendar  and  the  lives  of  the  saints,  can  sign 
their  names  with  tolerable  facility,  and  can  make  the  simpler  arith- 
metical calculations  with  the  help  of  a  little  calculating  instrument 
called  "stchety,"  which  resembles  the  "abaca"  of  the  old  Romans, 
and  is  universally  used  in  Russia.  It  is  only  the  minority  who  under- 
stand the  mysteries  of  regular  book-keeping,  and  of  these  very  few  can 
make  any  pretensions  to  being  educated  men.  Already^  however, 
symptoms  of  a  change  for  the  better  in  this  respect  are  noticeatle. 
Some  of  the  rich  merchants  are  now  giving  to  their  children  the  test 
education  which  can  be  procured,  and  already  a  few  young  merchants 
may*  be  found  who  can  speak  one  or  two  foreign  languages  and  may 
fairly  be  called  educated  men.  Unfortunately,  many  of  these  forake 
the  occupations  of  their  forefathers  and  seek  distinction  elsewhere.  In 
this  way  the  mercantile  class  constantly  loses  a  considerable  poition 
of  that  valuable  leaven  which  may  ultimately  leaven  the  whole  lunp. 

As  to  the  dishonesty  which  is  said  to  be  so  common  among  the 
Russian  commercial  classes,  it  is  difficult  to  form  an  accurate  judg- 
ment. That  an  enormous  amount  of  unfair  dealing  does  exist,  tlere 
can  be  no  possible  doubt,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  this  matter  a 
foreigner  is  likely  to  be  unduly  severe.  We  are  apt  to  apply  unflinch- 
ingly our  own  standard  of  commercial  morality,  and  to  forget  that 
trade  in  Russia  is  only  emerging  from  that  primitive  condition  in 
which  fixed  prices  and  moderate  profits  are  entirely  unknown.  And 
when  we  happen  to  detect  positive  dishonesty,  it  seems  to  us  especially 
heinous,  because  the  trickery  employed  is  more  primitive  and  awkward 
than  that  to  which  we  are  accustomed.  Trickery  in  weighing  and 
measuring,  for  instance,  which  is  by  no  means  uncommon  in  Russia,  is 
likely  to  make  us  more  indignant  than  those  ingenious  methods  of 
adulteration  which  are  practiced  nearer  home,  and  are  regarded  by 
many  as  almost  legitimate.  Beside  this,  foreigners  who  go  to  Russia 
and  embark  in  speculations  without  possessing  any  adequate  knowledge 
of  the  character,  customs,  and  language  of  the  people,  positively  invite 
spoliation,  and  ought  to  blame  themselves  rather  than  the  people  who 
profit  by  their  ignorance  and  inexperience.  All  this,  and  much  more 
of  the  same  kind,  may  be  fairly  urged  in  mitigation  of  the  severe 
judgments  which  foreign  merchants  commonly  pass  on  Russian  com- 


THE   TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 


217 


Bulgarians  Transporting  Money  under  Escort. 


mercial  morality,  but  these  judgments  cannot  be  reversed  by  such 
arguments.  The  dishonesty  and  rascality  which  exist  among  the 
merchants  are  fully  recognized  by  the  Russians  themselves.  In  all 
moral  affairs  the  lower  classes  in  Russia  are  very  lenient  in  their 
judgments,  and  are  strongly  disposed,  like  Americans,  to  admire  what 
is  called  in  our  phraseology  "  a  smart  man,"  though  the  smartness  is 
known  to  contain  a  large  admixture  of  dishonesty;  and  yet  the  vox 
populi  in  Russia  emphatically  declares  that  the  merchants  as  a  class 
are  unscrupulous  and  dishonest.  There  is  a  rude  popular  play,  in 
which  the  Devil,  as  j^rincipal  dramatis  persona,  succeeds  in  cheating 
all  manner  and  conditions  of  men,  but  is  finally  over-reached  by  a 
genuine  Russian  merchant.  When  this  play  is  acted  in  the  Carnival 
Theatre  in  St.  Petersburg,  the  audience  invariably  agree  with  the 
moral  of  the  plot. 

If  this  play  were  acted  in  the  southern  towns  near  the  coast  of  the 
Black  Sea  it  would  be  necessary  to  modify  it  considerably,  for  here,  in 
company  with  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Armenians,  the  Russian  merchants 
seem   honest   by   comparison.     As   to  Greeks   and   Armenians,  it   is 


218  THE   TOWNS  AND  MERCANTILE   CLASSES. 

difficult  to  decide  which  of  the  two  nationalities  deserves  the  palm,  but 
it  seems  that  both  are  surpassed  by  the  Children  of  Israel.  It  is  said 
that  they  buy  up  wheat  in  the  villages  at  eleven  roubles  per  Tchetvert, 
transport  it  to  the  coast  at  their  own  expense,  and  sell  it  to  the 
exporters  at  ten  roubles !     And  yet  they  contrive  to  make  a  profit. 

If  we  might  express  a  general  opinion  regarding  Russian  com- 
mercial morality,  we  should  say  that  trade  in  Russia  is  carried  on 
very  much  on  the  same  principle  as  horse-dealing  in  America.  A  man 
who  wishes  to  buy  or  sell  must  trust  to  his  own  knowledge  and  acute- 
ness,  and  if  he  gets  the  worst  of  a  bargain  or  lets  himself  be  deceived, 
he  has  himself  to  blame.  Commercial  foreigners  on  arriving  in  Russia 
rarefy  understand  this,  and  when  they  know  it  theoretically,  they  are 
too  often  unable,  from  their  ignorance  of  the  language,  the  laws,  and 
the  customs  of  the  people,  to  turn  their  theoretical  knowledge  to 
account.  They  indulge,  therefore,  at  first  in  endless  invectives  against 
the  prevailing  dishonesty ;  but  gradually,  when  they  have  paid  what 
Germans  call  Lehnjeld,  they  accommodate  themselves  to  circumstances, 
take  large  profits  to  counterbalance  bad  debts,  and  generally  succeed 
— if  they  have  sufficient  energy,  mother-wit,  and  capital — in  making 
a  very  handsome  income. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  unsatisfactory  organization  of  the 
Russian  commercial  world  is  the  result  of  any  radical  peculiarity  of 
the  Russian  character.  All  new  countries  have  to  pass  through  a 
similar  state  of  things,  and  in  Russia  there  are  already  premonitory 
symptoms  of  a  change  for  the  better.  For  the  present,  it  is  true,  the 
extensive  construction  of  railways  and  the  rapid  development  of  banks 
and  limited  liability  companies  have  opened  up  a  new  and  wide  field 
for  all  kinds  of  commercial  swindling ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
are  now  in  every  large  town  a  certain  number  of  merchants  who  have 
learnt  by  experience  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy.  The  success  which 
many  of  these  have  obtained  will  doubtless  cause  their  example  to  be 
followed.  The  old  spirit  of  caste  and  routine  which  has  long  animated 
the  merchant  class  is  rapidly  disappearing,  and  not  a  few  nobles  are 
now  exchanging  country  life  and  the  service  of  the  State  for  industrial 
and  commercial  enterprises.  In  this  way  is  being  formed  the  nucleus 
of  that  wealthy,  enlightened  bourgeoisie,  which  Catherine  endeavored 
to  create  by  legislation ;  but  many  years  must  elapse  before  this  class 
acquires  sufficient  social  and  political  significance  to  deserve  the  title 
of  a  liers-eiat. 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL.  219 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  EUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

From  whatever  side  the  traveller  approaches  St.  Petersburg,  unless 
he  goes  thither  by  sea,  he  must  traverse  several  hundred  miles  of 
forest  and  morass,  presenting  few  traces  of  human  habitation  or 
agriculture.  This  fact  adds  powerfully  to  the  first  impression  which 
the  city  makes  on  his  mind.  In  the  midst  of  a  waste  howling  wilder- 
ness, he  suddenly  comes  on  a  magnificent  artificial  oasis. 

Of  all  the  great  European  cities  the  one  which  most  resembles  the 
capital  of  the  Czars  is  Berlin.  Both  are  built  on  perfectly  level 
ground ;  both  have  wide,  regularly-arranged,  badly-paved  streets ;  in 
both  there  is  a  general  look  of  stiffness  and  symmetry  which  suggests 
military  discipline  and  German  bureaucracy.  But  there  is  at  least 
one  profound  difference.  Though  Berlin  is  said  by  geographers  to  be 
built  on  the  Spree,  we  might  live  a  long  time  in  the  city  without  ever 
noticing  the  sluggish,  dirty  little  stream  on  which  the  name  of  a  river 
has  been  undeservedly  conferred.  St.  Petersburg,  on  the  contrary,  is 
built  on  a  magnificent  river,  which  forms  the  main  feature  of  the 
place.  By  its  breadth,  and  by  the  enormous  volume  of  its  clear,  blue, 
cold  water,  the  Neva  is  certainly  one  of  the  noblest  rivers  in  Europe. 
A  few  miles  before  reaching  the  Gulf  of  Finland  it  breaks  up  into 
several  streams  and  forms  a  delta.  It  is  here  that  St.  Petersburg 
stands.  The  principal  part  of  the  town  is  built  on  the  southern  bank; 
the  remainder  is  scattered  over  the  northern  bank  and  the  islands. 
The  chief  of  these  is  Basil  Island,  or  Vassiliostrof,  connected  with  the 
southern  bank  by  a  long  stone  bridge,  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of 
its  outline.  This  is  the  only  great  stone  bridge  of  which  the  city  can 
boast,  but  there  are  numerous  wooden  ones — some  supported  by  piles, 
and  other  by  boats  like  the  well-known  floating  bridges  on  the  Rhine 
— which  connect  the  islands  with  each  other  and  with  the  mainland. 
At  many  intermediate  points  the  communication  is  kept  up  in  summer 
by  picturesque,  little  two-oared  ferry-boats,  built,  it  is  said,  on  a  model 
designed  by  Peter  the  Great.  Some  of  the  more  distant  parts  of  the 
town  may  be  conveniently  reached  by  means  of  the  active  little  steam- 


220  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

launches,  wliich  dart  about,  and  add  to  the  animation  of  the  scene. 
In  winter  these  ferry-boats  and  launches  disappear,  and  the  bridges 
lose  much  of  their  importance,  for  the  river  is  covered  throughout  its 
whole  extent  by  a  thick  firm  layer  of  ice,  strong  enough  to  support 
the  heaviest  burdens. 

The  main  stream,  or  "  Big  Neva,"  spanned  by  the  stone  bridge  and 
by  three  bridges  of  boats,  flows  between  the  city  properly  so-called 
and  Vassiliostrof,  and  is  kept  within  proper  bounds  by  quays  and 
embankments  solidly  built  and  faced  with  massive  blocks  of  red 
granite.  On  the  southern  side  the  embankment  is  used  as  a  street  or 
promenade.  The  quays  of  Vassiliostrof,  on  the  contrary,  are  employed 
for  commercial  purposes,  and  are  always  lined  during  the  summer 
months  by  a  goodly  array  of  shipping.  At  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  island  stands  the  Custom-house  and  the  Exchange,  and  here  the 
foreign  merchants,  who  monopolize  the  export  and  import  trade,  most 
do  congregate. 

St.  Petersburg  is,  in  a  metropolitan  sense,  the  newest  city  in  Europe. 
It  was  founded,  erected,  decorated,  stocked,  peopled,  and  furnished,  with 
well-nigh  inconceivable  rapidity  by  the  indomitable  will  and  under  the 
unremitting  personal  superintendence  of  one  of  the  most  intelligent  and 
the  most  ruthless  despots  that  the  world  has  ever  seen — Peter  the  Great. 
The  actual  population  of  the  city  is  close  upon  700,000.  In  the  first 
year  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  would  have  been  very  easy  to  compute 
its  population.  There  was  nobody  in  St.  Petersburg  at  all ;  nobody  who 
■was  not  nomadic  at  least  between  Lake  Ladoga,  where  the  Neva  rises, 
and  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  into  which  the  river  falls.  But,  in  1703,  Peter, 
having  finished  his  shipwright's  apprenticeship  in  Holland,  and  having 
visited  England,  decreed  that  he  would  have  "  a  window  looking  out 
into  Europe,"  and  well  has  the  city  fulfilled  its  purpose,  for  from  its 
foundation  may  be  dated  the  European  period  of  Russian  history. 
The  Great  Czar  was  physically  as  well  as  morally  a  giant;  he  had 
plenty  of  warm  fur  coats  and  caps,  and  so  did  not  mind  the  cold; 
being  an  Emperor,  he  naturally  did  not  care  if  the  many  millions  of 
his  subjects  who  were  destitute  of  fur  coats  and  caps  shivered  and 
shook  until  they  nearly  chattered  their  teeth  out  of  their  heads  in  a 
horribly  inhospitable  climate;  and,  finally,  his  Imperial  Majesty  was 
notoriously  subject  to  intermitting  fits  of  madness.  Nobody  but  an 
occasional  maniac,  we  sliould  imagine,  would  have  thought  of  building 
a  city  on  such  a  s^jot. 


THE   RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 


221 


fc^^^^^^^^^^ 


V>i 


s  1 


l'    ^1 


liiiPii" 
\  PI 

ill  Ifflilllil 


222  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

It  was  to  be  built  nevertheless.  Peter  had  so  -willed  it;  and  that 
gigantic  genius  was  one  of  those  personages  who  once  in  a  century  or 
so  come  into  the  world  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  having  their  own 
way,  and  who  have  it  with  a  vengeance.  He  brought  many  thousands 
of  peasants  from  every  part  of  Russia,  and  from  Finland,  and  set 
them  to  work,  in  true  Egyptian  taskmaster-fashion,  on  his  new  city. 
Forty  thousand  was  the  annual  contingent  of  moujiks  "conscripted" 
for  this  purpose,  the  Czar  dwelling  among  them  in  one  of  those  log 
cabins  of  which  he  was  so  fond,  and  personally  superintending  the 
progress  of  the  works.  He  was  not  unprovided,  we  may  be  sure,  with 
a  big  stick  wherewith  to  accelerate  the  movements  of  the  masons  and 
carpenters.  People  who  have  their  own  way  usually  carry  a  big 
stick,  and  are  accustomed  to  lay  it  about  them  lustily.  Peter's  staff 
of  command — and  correction — is  still  preserved  in  the  strange  museum 
of  personal  relics  of  the  mighty  Czar,  which  forms  one  of  the  attrac- 
tions of  the  Hermitage. 

St.  Petersburg  began  on  the  north  side  of  the  Neva;  and  in  1705 
the  broad,  handsome  street  called  the  Million  ay  a,  at  the  extremity  of 
which  is  the  Hermitage,  was  built.  The  large  island  between  the 
Great  and  Little  Neva  was  colonized  by  the  serfs  of  the  famous 
favorite  Menschikoff;  but  he  did  not  give  his  name  to  the  quarter 
granted  to  hira.  The  island  was  called  and  is  still  known  as  Vassil- 
iostrof,  or  Basil's  Island,  from  one  Major  Vasil  or  Basil,  who  was 
placed  in  command  of  a  block-house  at  the  eastern  point  thereof. 
The  first  brick  tenement  in  Petersburg  was  built  in  1710,  by  Chan- 
cellor Count  Golovkin;  and  in  1711  the  construction  of  the  Admiralty 
was  begun,  in  brick.  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  building  were 
simply  tremendous.  They  equaled  the  obstacles  which  lay  in  the 
way  of  the  founders  of  Venice.  They  surpassed  the  problems  which 
puzzled  the  architects  of  Amsterdam.  It  had  pleased  Peter  to  order 
that  his  metropolis  should  be  built  in  the  midst  of  a  morass ;  and  into 
this  sloppy  marsh  it  was  necessary  to  drive  millions  upon  millions  of 
wooden  piles  before  the  foundations  proper  of  the  houses  could  be  laid. 
As  a  consequence,  St.  Petersburg,  splendidly  embanked  as  is  the  Neva 
throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  town,  is  in  chronic  danger  of 
inundation,  especially  after  a  thaw,  and  at  the  period  of  the  spring 
tides ;  and  it  is  considered  not  at  all  unlikely  that  some  day  or  another 
it  may  be  swept  away  altogether. 


THE  R  •  "iSIAN  CAPITAL.  223 

One  thing  in  St.  Petersburg  the  Autocrat  -was  powerless  to  do.  He 
could  not  make  his  city  healthy.  Setting  aside  the  normal  asperity 
of  the  climate — the  merciless  rigor  of  the  long  winter  and  the  scorch- 
ing heat  of  the  brief  summer,  with  a  soaking  spring  and  a  foggy 
autumn  of  yet  shorter  duration,  the  quaking  bog  on  which  the  city  is 
built  makes  it  the  abode  at  most  times  of  a  number  of  distressing 
maladies.  Catarrh,  rheumatism,  bronchial  affections,  and  asthma  are 
the  prevailing  diseases  of  the  winter ;  while  ague  and  dysentery  are 
the  chief  ailments  of  the  summer  in  St.  Petersburg.  Twenty  years 
ago  Asiatic  cholera  was  chronic  in  the  lower  quarters  of  the  town ;  but 
sanitary  matters  have  much  mended  within  that  period,  and  cases  of 
cholera  are  but  rarely  heard  of  in  the  St.  Petersburg  of  the  present 
day. 

The  enlargement  and  the  embellishment  of  the  city  of  the  Czar 
have  been  well-nigh  unremittingly  pursued  from  the  very  first  moment 
of  its  inception  to  the  times  in  which  we  live.  In  the  course  of  a 
century  and  a  half  it  was  but  natural  to  expect  that  some  slums  and 
rookeries  should  grow  up;  and  where  such  disfigurements  to  the  state- 
liness  of  the  city  have  been  found  to  exist,  they  must  be  ascribed  first 
to  the  circumstance  that  the  dwellings  of  the  peasants  who  were 
draughted  into  the  service  of  building  St.  Petersburg  were  hastily  run 
up,  and  almost  invariably  constructed  of  the  perishable  material, 
wood ;  and  next  to  the  habits  and  mode  of  life  of  the  humbler  classes 
of  the  population,  which  even  in  this  enlightened  age  are  far  from 
cleanly,  but  which  in  by-gone  days  were  indescribably  unsavory.  The 
slums  and  the  rookeries — situated  as  they  principally  are  in  the 
remotest  outskirts  of  the  town — are  rapidly  disappearing;  and  the 
substitution  of  brick  for  rough-hewn  logs  as  a  building  material  has 
grown  to  be  well-nigh  universal.  The  masses,  again,  are  at  present 
able  to  earn  more  money  for  themselves  than  was  the  case  in  the  days 
of  their  serfdom — then  they  toiled  in  order  that  their  roubles  and 
kopecks  might  swell  the  revenues  of  their  lords  and  masters.  The 
Petersburg  moxijik  of  1877  is,  materially  speaking,  by  no  means  badly 
off*;  and  he  is,  consequently,  becoming  less  and  less  habituated  to 
residing  in  a  pigstye.  He  is  learning  to  read,  too,  and  to  write,  and 
and  to  take  some  interest  in  politics;  he  has  (since  he  is  no  longer 
beaten  by  his  master  or  by  the  police)  all  but  abandoned  the  practice  of 
thrashing  his  wife — a  recreation  of  which  he  was  formerly  extremely 


224  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

fond;  and,  if  he  were  not  so  grossly  superstitious  and  so  fervently 
addicted  to  getting  tipsy  whenever  he  has  a  chance  of  obtaining  vodka, 
the  vioujik  might  be  contrasted,  certainly  not  greatly  to  his  disadvan- 
tage, with  the  working  man  of  any  other  European  capital.  The 
Government,  unfortunately,  both  directly  and  indirectly  encoux-ages 
the  superstition  of  the  common  people,  fanaticism  being  usually  found 
a  most  valuable  aid  to  the  preservation  of  Russian  conservatism ;  it  is 
the  brine  which  keeps  the  old  carcass  of  despotism  from  putrefying; 
but  the  supreme  authority  has,  to  its  honor,  done  of  late  years  every- 
thing in  its  power  to  diminish  the  drunkenness  of  the  people.  The 
municipality  of  St.  Petersburg  have  recently  closed  at  least  a  third 
of  the  low  brandy  shops  which  formerly  swarmed  in  the  more  densely 
populated  quarters,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  breweries  are  actively 
fostered;  and  a  light  and  wholesome  beer  is  now  made,  to  which  the 
people  seem  to  be  taking  very  kindly.  They  are  likewise  tremendous 
tea  drinkers ;  and,  on  the  whole,  the  tourist  sees  nowadays  fewer  tipsy 
people  in  the  streets  of  Petersburg  than  at  Moscow.  The  encourage- 
ment given  to  temperance  reflects  the  greatest  credit  on  the  Govern- 
ment, when  it  is  remembered  that  the  Imperial  revenue  is  accustomed 
to  benefit  largely  from  the  excise  on  home-manufactured  vodka. 

Another  and  very  characteristic  cause  has  likewise  tended  to 
diminish  the  number  of  the  St.  Petersburg  rookeries.  Formerly  fires 
were  as  rife  at  St.  Petersburg  as  they  are  still  rife  at  Pera,  in  which 
last  interesting  suburb  of  Constantinople  the  average  number  of 
conflagrations  is  two  and  a  half  per  day,  from  about  ten  to  fifty  houses 
usually  "  burning  up"  at  each  fire.  The  Czar  Xicholas  used  to  say 
that  a  St.  Petersburg  fire  on  a  large  scale  nearly  equaled  a  review  in 
the  opportunities  it  afforded  for  testing  the  capabilities  and  exhibiting 
the  mettle  of  his  Imperial  Guard.  If  the  fire  was  a  "first-class 
blaze,"  the  Grand  Dukes,  and  even  the  Emperor  himself,  attended 
the  conflagration  in  person ;  but  this  system  was  not  unattended  by 
disadvantages.  The  St.  Petersburg  Fire  Corps  is  essentially  a  military 
organization ;  and  military  etiquette  demanded  that  the  officer  who  was 
highest  in  rank  should  take  the  command  of  all  the  troops  on  the 
ground ;  and,  as  Russian  Emperors  and  Grand  Dukes  even  in  modern 
times  are  personages  who  usually  insist  upon  having  their  own  way, 
the  commanders  of  the  St.  Petersburg  Fire  Brigade  found  with  sad 
frequency  that  their  operations  were  sadly  hampered  and  impeded  by 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 


225 


Russian  Cossacks  Exploring  the  Country. 

Grand  Ducal  or  by  Imperial  interference.  The  plentitude  of  wooden 
houses  and  overheated  stoves,  and  a  careless  population,  much  given 
to  going  to  bed  in  a  state  of  vodha,  and  putting  lighted  candles  under- 
neath their  pillows,  were  among  the  commonest  causes  of  the  firea 
which  used  to  devastate  St.  Petersburg  by  the  whole  quarter  at  a 
time.  These  catastrophes  are  at  present  of  far  less  frequent  occurrence, 
the  Fire  Corps  is  much  better  drilled,  and  is  somewhat  more  indepen- 
dent in  action  than  of  yore ;  and  fires  are,  in  general,  easily  extin- 
guished. The  most  stringent  precautions  continue,  however,  to  be 
taken  against  the  Fire  Demon  ;  and  the  city  is  dotted  Avith  tall  wooden 
towers,  in  the  topmost  galleries  of  which  watchmen  are  stationed,  both 
by  day  and  by  night,  to  look  out  for  a  redness  in  the  sky.  The 
extensive  fires  of  by-gone  times  are  not  (save  when  they  were  accom- 
panied by  loss  of  life)  to  be  regretted.  They  burned  the  rookeries 
down,  and  the  rookeries  have  not  been  rebuilt.  The  most  repulsive 
quarters  of  St.  Petersburg  comprise  at  present  very  few  log  cabins ; 
but  they  abound  in  dirty,  squalid  brick  edifices  very  closely  resembling 
15 


226  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

the  "tenement  houses"  of  the  lower  districts  of  New  York.  In  these 
houses,  which  sometimes  shelter  as  many  as  a  hundred  families,  lurk 
the  dangerous  classes  of  the  Russian  capital.  The  tenement  houses 
are  General  Trepoff's  rabbit-warren.  Thither  come  the  agents  of  the 
terrible  chief  of  the  Pretopolitan  police  (General  Trepoff's  name,  if  it 
be  uttered  aloud,  is  generally  pronounced  in  a  whisper,  so  intense  is 
the  terror  which  this  formidable  personage  inspires).  In  these  tene- 
ments do  the  police  find  the  assassins,  the  burglars,  the  bank-note 
forgers,  the  swindlers  and  vagrants  of  whom  they  are  in  quest.  But 
when  political  conspirators,  Socialists,  Nihilists,  Polish  patriots,  and 
what  not,  are  "  wanted  "  it  is  much  further  a  field,  and  to  far  different 
quarters  of  the  city  that  Trepoff's  detectives  are  fain  to  go.  The 
conspirators  have  to  be  pounced  upon  in  Basil  Island,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  University,  and  sometimes  in  the  most  fashionable  quarters 
of  the  city. 

The  tourist  may  obtain  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  topography 
of  the  city  by  ascending  the  dome  of  St.  Isaac's  Cathedral.  Thence 
looking  north,  he  will  behold  the  island  of  Vassiliostrof,  with  the 
Exchange,  the  University,  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the  Military 
School.  To  the  left  is  the  Krepust,  or  Citadel,  and  beyond,  north  and 
west,  are  the  islands  of  Aptekarski,  Kamennoi,  Petrofski,  Krestofski, 
and  Elaghinski.  In  some  of  these  islands  the  great  nobles  and  wealthy 
bankers  of  Petersburg  have  their  splendid  villas ;  and  at  Aptekarski 
is  the  College  of  Surgeons.  The  islands  of  the  Neva  are  in  summer 
time  delightful  places  of  resort,  and  Krestofski  is,  in  particular,  the 
special  rendezvous  for  the  German  colony.  There  are  probably  a 
hundred  thousand  Teutons  in  St.  Petersburg.  At  Krestofski,  in 
summer,  take  place  picnics  lasting  from  midnight  until  morn ;  there 
is  light  enough  to  read  small  print  the  whole  night  through,  and  the 
sun  never  seems  to  set — it  only  cZips  across  the  horizon,  and  is  born 
again  before  it  dies. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  to  the  East  of  the  Great  Nevka,  and  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Neva,  stretch  long  ranges  of  barracks,  factories,  and  Gov- 
ernment establishments.  The  outer  walls  of  all  public  buildings,  not 
being  churches  or  palaces,  are  invariably  painted  Avith  one  "  adminis- 
trative" hue — a  dull  yellow  ochre;  and  the  effect  produced  thereby  on 
the  eye  is  the  reverse  of  pleasant.  The  communication  between  the 
mainland  and  the  islands  is  by  four  bridges,  the  Nicolaiefski  Most,  so 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL,  227 

called  after  the  Czar  Nicholas,  a  stately  structure  of  granite  piers  with 
graceful  arches ;  the  Dvortsoior  Palace  Bridge,  which  is  of  boats,  between 
the  Exchange  and  the  Winter  Palace;  the  Troitski  or  Trinity  Bridge, 
between  the  fortress  and  the  Champ  de  Mars,  and,  finally,  the  Liteiny, 
likewise  a  floating  bridge  of  lighters.  When  the  ice  of  the  Neva 
begins  to  "pack,"  as  it  does  about  November,  the  floating  bridges  are 
removed ;  but  so  soon  as  the  river  is  well  frozen  over  the  bridges  are 
restored  to  their  places.  There  is  a  general  sensation  of  relief  when 
the  winter  has  thus  begun  in  real  earnest.  The  Russians  prefer  a 
sound,  solid,  inflexibly  hard  frost  to  the  mere  dallying  and  shilly- 
shallying of  alternate  frost  and  thaw,  which  mark  the  first  fortnight 
in  November,  and  sometimes  the  whole  of  that  month.  When  the  ice 
on  the  bosom  of  the  Neva  has  solidified  to  a  proper  wintry  degree  of 
thickness  people  know  that  the  worst  has  come,  and  they  prepare  with 
Spartan  fortitude  to  "  grin  and  bear  it."  To  a  foreigner,  at  least,  the 
inconvenience  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  "worst"  of  which  we  havQ 
spoken  lasts  for  four,  and  very  often  for  five,  months.  The  good  peo- 
ple of  Petersburg  endeavor  meanwhile  to  make  themselves  as  com- 
fortable as  they  can  under  the  circumstances.  Everybody  who  pos- 
sesses a  schoub,  or  fur-lined  pelisse,  enwraps  himself  in  that  commodious, 
although  clumsy-looking  garment,  the  skirts  of  which  descend  to  his 
heels,  while  the  huge  fur  cuffs  nearly  cover  his  finger-tips  and  the 
huger  fur  collar  protects  his  ears  and  ascends  to  the  tip  of  his  nose. 
You  cannot  buy,  in  Petersburg  at  least,  a  schoub  of  even  the  most  in- 
ferior kind  of  fur  for  less  than  seventy-five  dollars,  and  you  may,  if 
you  are  rich  enough,  give  as  much  as  five  hundred  dollars,  or  even 
twelve  hundred  dollars  for  one  of  the  superb  sable  mantles  sold  by  the 
aristocratic  furriers  of  the  Nevski,  the  Bolschoi  Morskaia,  or  the 
Gostinnoi-Dvor. 

The  Neva  thus  frozen  hard,  the  shovels  of  an  army  of  moujihs, 
aided  by  the  strong  blast  blowing  from  the  Lake  of  Ladoga,  smooth 
away  the  roughnesses  of  the  frozen  field,  and  soon  the  whole  face  of 
the  stream  gleams  with  glassy  brightness.  Wells  are  dug  at  stated 
intervals  in  the  thick  ice  to  supplement  the  water  supply  by  draughts 
from  the  rapid  current  which  flows  beneath.  A  broad  road  is  swept 
and  garnished  leading  from  above  the  city  right  down  to  Cronstadt. 
This  road  is  prettily  bordered  with  dwarf  evergreens,  with  larch  and 
birch  trees,  and  makes  a  capital  promenade.     Sleigh-driving  sets  in 


228  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

with  amazing  dash  and  vigor ;  and  the  streets  of  Petersburg  (which  is 
at  most  times  rather  a  silent  city)  resound  throughout  the  day  and  late 
into  the  night  to  the  incessant  jingling  of  the  sleigh-bells.  The  tin- 
tinnabulation is  not  entirely  of  an  ornamental  or  festive  character. 
The  jingling  is  intended  to  save  foot-passengers  from  being  run  over, 
for  the  runners  of  the  sleds  glide  so  gently  and  yet  with  such  rapidity 
over  the  snow  as  to  be  well-nigh  inaudible  until  the  horses'  hoofe  are 
within  a  few  inches  of  you.  It  is  not  safe  to  walk  in  the  snow  imless 
you  are  provided  with  high  boots  lined  with  fur  or  lambs-wool,  or 
unless  (as  the  general  custom  is)  you  wear  india-rubber  goloeshes. 
When  you  pay  a  visit  you  remove  your  overshoes — which  are  fur- 
nished with  little  rudimentary  spurs  in  the  heel,  so  as  to  be  easily 
kicked  off— in  the  hall  of  the  house,  and  when  your  visit  is  at  an  end 
you  resume  your  goloeshes  again.  If  you  are  awkward  in  donning  or 
doffing  these  flexible  sabots,  the  dvornik  or  the  moujik  in  attendance 
down  stairs  is  always  ready  to  assist  you,  and  you  reward  him  with  a 
few  kopecks  for  his  pains. 

The  common  one-horse  sledges  which  ply  for  hire  in  St.  Petersburg 
are  not  comfortable.  There  is  scarcely  room  on  the  seat  behind  the 
driver  for  a  single  passenger.  The  bulwarks  of  the  sledge  are  but 
frail.  It  is  supported  on  runners  without  springs ;  and,  if  you  dont 
trim  the  boat — or  sledge — with  extreme  care,  the  probabilities  are 
disagreeably  in  favor  of  the  entire  concern  tipping  over.  The  driver 
is  used  to  these  little  casualties.  He  has  not  far  to  fall,  and  he  has  a 
way  of  rolling  himself  over  and  over  in  the  snow,  and  then  of  coming 
up  again,  smiling,  like  a  frozen  miller.  The  horse,  too,  seems  to  be 
used  to  occasional  tumbles,  and  rather  to  like  a  recumbent  position  in 
the  soft  snow ;  but  the  case  of  the  passenger  is  far  different,  especially 
if  he  have  a  companion  who  falls  on  the  top  of  him,  while  the  heavy 
runners  of  the  sledge  fall  atop  of  both.  The  drivers  are  civil  fellows 
enough,  clad,  in  summer-time,  in  caftans  of  blue  cloth  and  low-crowned 
hats  with  curly  brims;  and,  in  winter  time,  in  turban-shaped  fur  caps, 
and  flowing  robes  lined  with  imitation  astracan  or  some  cheap  fur. 
Their  waists  are  girt  with  sashes  of  brilliant  hues — once  brilliant  hues 
would,  perhaps,  be  the  most  appropriate  expression.  The  majority 
of  these  drivers  are  tawny,  brawny,  flowing-bearded  peasants  of  the 
unmistakable  Sclavonic  type,  but  among  them  there  is  a  considerable 
proportion  of  mere  striplings,  seemingly  of  not  more  than  fifteen  or 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 


229 


General  Nepokoitschitzky,  Chief  of  the  Staff  of  the  Russian  Army 
ON  THE  Danube. 

sixteen.  It  is  a  rare  thing  to  meet  with  a  Tartar  ischvostchik  in  St. 
Petersburg.  They  may  occasionally  be  seen  in  Moscow ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  waiters  in  the  hotels  and  restaurants  in  both  capitals 
are  nearly  always  Tartars.  The  landlords  prefer  a  Tartar  to  a  Sclav, 
because  the  former  is  a  Mohammedan,  who  drinks  no  fermented 
liquors  and  disdains  to  steal  anything  save  horseflesh.  The  honestest 
Tartar,  they  say,  cannot  occasionally  resist  the  temptation  of  illegally 
turning  a  horse  to  his  own  use  and  profit ;  and  it  is  for  this  reason, 
perhaps,  that  there  are  no  Tartar  drivers  of  hackney  carriages  in  St. 
Petersburg.  The  cab-masters  may  be  nervous  lest  a  Calmuck  driver 
should  run  away  some  morning,  horse  and  all,  and  never  come  back 
again.     In  summer  time,  of  course,  the  sledge  with  its  runners  is 


230  ■  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

replaced  by  a  jolting,  rattling  little  droschky.  This  vehicle  is  a  little 
roomier  than  the  winter  time  sledge,  and  still  leaves  a  good  deal  to  be 
desired. 

Official  tariff  of  fares  there  is  none ;  the  driver  is  entitled  to  charge 
as  much  as  he  likes ;  but  no  one  but  a  lunatic  would  think,  after  he 
had  been  a  couple  of  days  in  St.  Petersburg,  of  engaging  a  droschky 
or  a  sledge  without  making  a  preliminary  bargain  with  the  charioteer 
thereof  As  a  rule,  the  demand  made  by  the  driver  is  not  extortionate 
and  the  bargain  is  easily  struck,  and  rigidly  adhered  to  by  the  Kussian 
Jehu.  If  you  present  him  with  a  trifle  of  copper  money  as  a  gratuity 
over  and  above  his  fare  he  will  shed  tears  of  joy— it  is  when  he  has 
been  drinking  too  much  vodha  that  he  weeps  most  plentifully — still,  if 
you  give  him  nothing  beyond  the  sum  stipulated  to  be  paid  he  does  not 
upbraid  you ;  far  less  does  he  strew  over  you  the  flowers  of  a  Sclavonic 
Billingsgate,  as  some  American  cabmen  are  rather  too  prone  to  do. 
A  rouble  will  about  cover  the  longest  journey  you  could  undertake 
in  the  streets  of  St.  Petersburg ;  while  for  a  short  course  so  moderate  a 
fee  as  twenty  kopecks  (about  fifteen  cents)  will  often  be  cheerfully 
accepted. 

The  drivers  of  these  carriages — and  those  also  who  steer  the  private 
equipages  of  the  Russian  nobility  and  gentry — seem  to  be  men  of  iron, 
wholly  impervious  to  the  effects  of  cold ;  and  your  coachman  will  take 
you  to  the  opera,  thence  to  three  or  four  parties,  thence  to  a  couple  of 
clubs,  or  wait  cheerfully  for  you  in  the  frigid  courtyard  of  some  great 
mansion,  or  on  one  of  the  bleak  and  wind-swept  quays  of  the  Neva, 
until  four  or  five  on  a  December  morning.  In  the  vicinity  of  the 
great  theatres  and  the  Imperial  palaces  there  are  permanent  circular 
braziers  of  iron  roofed  in,  and  in  which  roaring  fires  of  logs  are  lit  on 
wintry  nights.  The  watchmen  gather  around  these  jovial  bivouacs, 
clap  their  fur-gloved  hands  together,  warm  their  poor  chilled  noses, 
and  are  happy. 

Resuming  our  fancied  station,  perched  on  the  topmost  cupola  of  St. 
Isaac's,  we  can  easily  descry  the  great  edifice  of  the  Admiralty  with 
its  graceful  gilded  spire.  Southward  the  great  bulk  of  the  city— the 
portion  inhabited  by  the  Court,  the  nobility,  the  corps  diplomatique, 
and  the  principal  bankers,  merchants  and  shopkeepers— stretches  in 
thickly-serried  lines  and  blocks,  the  Neva  pursuing  for  nearly  four 
miles  a  southwesterly  course.    The  districts  on  this  side  the  river  are 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL.  231 

divided  into  three  semicircular  regions  by  as  many  canals,  the  Moika, 
the  Ekaterina  and  the  Fontanka.  It  is  well  worth  while  to  bear  this 
topographical  arrangement  in  mind,  since  it  closely  and  curiously 
resembles  the  lines  on  which  the  city  of  Amsterdam  is  built.  It  would 
seem  as  though  the  ex-shipwright  of  Saardam  had  never  been  able  to 
efface  the  remembrance  of  Holland  from  his  mind ;  as  though  he  had 
consciously  or  unconsciously  adopted  the  Dutch  capital,  the  arrange- 
ment of  whose  streets  and  canals  has  been  compared  to  the  section  of 
half  an  onion,  as  a  model  for  his  autocratically-planned  metropolis. 
Another  Dutch  town,  Rotterdam,  was  called  long  ago  a  "vulgar 
Venice."  Waterside  St.  Petersburg  might  from  more  than  one  point 
of  view  be  qualified  as  a  sublime  Rotterdam. 

Like  the  river,  everything  in  St.  Petersburg  is  on  a  colossal  scale. 
The  streets,  the  squares,  the  palaces,  the  public  buildings,  the  churches, 
whatever  may  be  their  defects,  have  at  least  the  attribute  of  great- 
ness, and  seem  to  have  been  designed  for  the  countless  generations  to 
come,  rather  than  for  the  practical  wants  of  the  present  inhabitants. 
In  this  respect  the  city  well  represents  the  Empire  of  which  it  is  the 
capital.  Even  the  private  houses  are  built  in  enormous  blocks,  many 
of  them  containing  more  than  a  score  of  separate  apartments. 

This  custom  of  building  big  houses  has  rendered  possible  a  peculiar 
and  effective  system  of  police  organization.  Each  house  has  a  dvornihy 
or  porter,  who  is  a  servant  of  the  proprietor  and  at  the  same  time  a 
police  agent.  He  has  to  sweep,  and  in  summer  to  water  the  street  in 
front  of  the  house,  and  ,to  see  that  all  the  inmates  observe  scrupulously 
the  passport  regulations.  At  night  he  has  to  remain  outside  in  the 
street  and  act  as  watchman.  The  fact  that  these  men  commonly  lie 
down  and  go  to  sleep  during  the  long  winter  nights,  when  the  ther- 
mometer may  sink  to  thirty  degrees  below  zero,  and  that  they  are 
rarely  if  ever  frozen  to  death,  constitutes  a  brilliant  proof  of  the 
Russian's  wonderful  capacity  for  resisting  extreme  cold.  Formerly, 
it  is  said,  these  watchmen  often  aided  the  police  in  waylaying  and 
robbing  benighted  citizens ;  but  all  such  practices  have  become  things 
of  the  past,  and  the  police  of  St.  Petersburg  may  now  challenge 
comparison  with  those  of  the  other  European  capitals. 

The  three  principal  streets  of  the  city  radiate  from  the  Admiralty 
Place,  and  throughout  the  whole  length  of  these  streets  the  Admiralty 
spire  is  visible,   closing  the  vista   towards  the  river.     These   three 


232  THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 

thoroughfares  are  the  world-renowned  Nevski  Prospekt,  or  "  Perspec- 
tive of  the  Neva;"  the  Gorokhovaia-Oulitza,  or  "Pease-street;"  and 
the  Vosnesenski-Prospekt,  or  "  Ascension  Perspective."  The  other 
principal  streets  are  the  Bolschoi  and  Mala  (great  and  little)  Morskaias, 
the  Millionaia,  the  Kazanskaia,  or  street  of  Kazan,  and  the  Sadovaya, 
or  Garden  street.  All  these  streets  are  strictly  rectilinear, "  and  are 
crossed  by  the  smaller  thoroughfares  at  right  angles.  For  admistra- 
tive  purposes  the  streets  are  divided  into  three  classes — first.  Perspec- 
tives, which  might  be  likened  to  Boulevards ;  next,  Oulitzas,  or 
ordinary  streets ;  and,  thirdly,  Pereouloks,  or  minor  cross  streets. 

St.  Petersburg  has,  of  course,  its  "lions,"  which  every  tourist  is 
expected  to  visit  and  admire.  There  is,  for  instance,  St.  Isaac's  Cathe- 
dral, from  whose  dome  we  have  taken  our  bird's-eye  view ;  an  enormous 
building  in  Renaissance  style,  with  gilded  dome  and  gigantic  monolithic 
pillars  of  red  granite.  The  general  effect  of  the  exterior,  especially 
when  covered  with  a  layer  of  sparkling  hoar-frost,  is  very  fine ;  but 
the  interior  has  been  spoiled  by  rich,  gaudy  decorations,  which  might 
supply  admirable  illustrations  for  a  sermon  on  pretentious  vulgarity 
and  bad  taste.  A  much  less  successful  architectural  effort  is  the 
Kazan  Church,  which  is  often  praised  by  Russians  as  the  work  of  a 
native  artist,  but  which  is  in  reality  a  striking  illustration  of  that 
spirit  of  thoughtless  imitation  which  is  too  often  to  be  found  in  Rus- 
sian institutions.  The  gigantic,  semicircular  colonnade,  suggested  by 
that  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome,  is  so  utterly  out  of  proportion  with  the 
rest  of  the  structure,  that  it  completely  hides  the  body  of  the  church, 
while  the  dome  peeps  over  the  formidable  barrier  like  a  culprit  con- 
demned to  imprisonment  for  life  and  apathetically  resigned  to  his  fate. 
Then  there  is  the  Winter  Palace,  which  finds  favor  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  believe  in  the  transcendant  genius  of  Rastrelli,  but  which  is  com- 
pletely wanting  in  the  stern,  massive  grandeur  which  the  name  suggests. 
Some  of  the  minor  palaces  are  much  more  in  keeping  with  the  nature 
of  the  climate,  but  they  present  nothing  that  can  be  called  a  Russian 
style  of  architecture.  There  is  a  Russian  style,  but  it  is  suitable  only 
for  wooden  buildings.  In  their  stone  buildings  the  Russians  have,  like 
the  other  Northern  nations,  borrowed  largely  from  the  countries  of 
Southern  Europe  without  considering  the  difference  of  climate.  What 
the  Petersburgians  may  be  justly  proud  of  is  the  general  grandiose 
appearance  of  their  city,  and  not  the  beauty  of  particular  edifices. 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 


233 


Of  statues  and  other  monuments  there  ls  a  goodly  quantity,  dis- 
playing all  degrees  of  merit,  from  the  equestrian  statue  of  Peter  the 
Great,  which  is  really  a  work  of  art,  to  the  statues  and  busts  in  the 
Summer  Garden,  which  are  simply  artistic  monstrosities.     Pictures, 


234 


THE  RUSSIAN  CAPITAL. 


too,  there  are  in  abundance.  The  Hermitage,  for  instance,  contains  a 
really  magnificent  collection  of  the  Dutch  school,  and  a  large  number 
of  works  attributed  to  Italian  and  Spanish  old  masters — all  more  or 
less  genuine.  But  we  need  not  trespass  on  the  domain  of  the  art 
critic,  nor  need  we  weary  the  reader  with  descriptions  of  what  has 
already  been  described  in  the  guide-books.  In  St.  Petersburg,  as  else- 
where, sight-seeing  is  a  weariness  of  the  flesh ;  and  the  tourist  may 
employ  his  time  much  more  agreeably  in  sauntering  about  the  streets 
and  bazaars,  especially  if  it  be  in  winter  time. 

There  is,  however,  one  "sight"  which  must  have  a  deep  interest  for 
those  who  are  sensitive  to  the  influence  of  historical  associations — we 
mean  the  little  wooden  house  in  which  Peter  the  Great  lived  whilst  his 
future  capital  was  being  built.  In  its  style  and  arrangement  it  looks 
more  like  the  hut  of  a  navvy  than  the  residence  of  a  Czar,  but  it  was 
quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  the  illustrious  man  who  occu- 
pied it.  Peter  could  and  did  occasionally  work  like  a  navvy  without 
feeling  that  his  Imperial  dignity  was  thereby  diminiched.  When  he 
determined  to  build  a  new  capital  on  a  Finnish  marsh,  inhabited 
chiefly  by  wild-fowl,  he  did  not  content  himself  with  exercising  his  au- 
tocratic power  in  a  comfortable  arm-chair.  Like  the  old  Greek  gods, 
he  went  down  from  his  Olympus,  and  took  his  place  in  the  ranks  of 
ordinary  mortals,  superintending  the  work  with  his  own  eyes,  and 
taking  part  in  it  with  his  own  hands.  If  he  was  as  arbitrary  and 
oppressive  as  any  of  the  pyramid-building  Pharaohs,  he  could  at  least 
say  in  self-justification  that  he  did  not  spare  himself  any  more  than  his 
people. 


Ice-Elephant  and  Fountain. 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION,  235 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  gigantic  administrative  machine  which  holds  together  all  the 
various  parts  of  the  vast  Empire,  and  secures  public  order  and  tran- 
quility, has  been  gradually  created  by  successive  generations,  but  we 
may  say  roughly  that  it  was  first  designed  and  constructed  by  Peter 
the  Great,  Before  his  time  the  country  was  governed  in  a  rude, 
primitive  fashion.  The  Grand  Princes  of  Moscow,  in  subduing  their 
rivals  and  annexing  the  surrounding  principalities,  merely  cleared  the 
ground  for  a  great  homogeneous  State,  and  made  no  attempt  to  build 
a  symmetrical  political  edifice.  Wily,  practical  politicians,  rather 
than  statesmen,  they  never  dreamed  of  introducing  uniformity  and 
symmetry  into  the  administration.  They  spared  and  developed  the 
ancient  institutions,  so  far  as  these  were  useful  and  consistent  with  the 
exercise  of  autocratic  power,  and  made  only  such  alterations  as  prac- 
tical necessity  demanded.  And  these  necessary  alterations  were  more 
frequently  local  than  general.  Special  decisions,  instruction  to  par- 
ticular ofiicials,  and  charters  for  particular  communes  or  proprietors, 
were  much  more  common  than  general  legislative  measures.  In  short, 
the  old  Muscovite  Czars  practiced  a  tentative,  hand-to-mouth  policy, 
ruthlessly  destroying  whatever  caused  temporary  inconvenience,  and 
giving  little  heed  to  what  did  not  force  itself  upon  their  attention. 
Hence,  under  their  rule  the  administration  presented  not  only  terri- 
torial peculiarities,  but  also  an  ill-assorted  combination  of  different 
systems  in  the  same  district,  a  conglomeration  of  institutions  belonging 
to  different  epochs. 

This  irregular  system,  or  rather  want  of  system,  seemed  highly 
unsatisfactory  to  the  logical  mind  of  Peter  the  Great,  who  was  all  his 
life  a  thorough  doctrinaire.  He  conceived  the  grand  design  of  sweeping 
it  away,  and  putting  in  its  place  a  symmetrical  bureaucratic  machine, 
constructed  according  to  the  newest  principles  of  political  science.  It 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  this  magnificent  project,  so  foreign  to 
the  traditional  ideas  and  customs  of  the  people,  was  not  easily  realized. 
Imagine  a  man,  without  technical  knowledge,  without  skilled  work- 


236  THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION.  ■ 

men,  -without  good  tools,  and  with  no  better  material  than  soft, 
crumbling  sandstone,  endeavoring  to  build  a  palace  on  a  marsh !  The 
undertaking  would  seem  to  reasonable  minds  utterly  absurd,  and  yet 
it  must  be  admitted  that  Peter's  project  was  scarcely  more  feasible. 
He  had  neither  technical  knowledge,  nor  the  requisite  materials,  nor 
a  firm  foundation  to  build  on.  With  his  usual  Titanic  energy  he 
demolished  the  old  structure,  but  his  attempts  to  construct  were  little 
more  than  a  series  of  failures.  In  his  numerous  ukases  he  has  left  us 
a  graphic  description  of  his  efforts,  and  it  is  at  once  instructive  and 
saddening  to  watch  the  great  worker  toiling  indefatigably  at  his  self- 
imposed  task.  His  instruments  are  constantly  breaking  in  his  hands. 
The  foundations  of  the  building  are  continually  giving  way,  and  the 
lower  tiers  crumbling  under  the  superincumbent  weight.  A  whole 
section  is  found  to  be  unsuitable,  and  is  ruthlessly  pulled  down,  or 
falls  of  its  own  accord.  And  yet  the  builder  toils  on,  with  a  persever- 
ance and  energy  of  purpose  that  compel  admiration,  frankly  confessing 
his  mistakes  and  failures,  and  patiently  seeking  the  means  of  remedying 
them,  never  allowing  a  word  of  despondency  to  escape  him,  and  never 
despairing  of  ultimate  success.  And  at  length  death  comes,  and  the 
mighty  builder  is  snatched  away  suddenly  in  the  midst  of  his  unfin- 
ished labors,  bequeathing  to  his  successors  the  task  of  carrying  on  the 
great  work; 

None  of  these  successors  possessed  Peter's  genius  and  energy,  but 
they  were  all  compelled  by  the  force  of  circumstances  to  adopt  his 
plans.  A  return  to  the  old  rough  and  ready  rule  of  the  Voyevods 
was  impossible.  As  the  autocratic  power  became  more  and  more 
imbued  with  Western  ideas,  it  felt  more  and  more  the  need  of  a 
thoroughly  good  instrument  for  the  realization  of  its  policy,  and 
accordingly  strove  to  systematize  and  centralize  the  administration. 

In  this  change  we  may  perceive  a  certain  analogy  with  the  history 
of  the  French  administration  from  the  time  of  Philippe  le  Bel  to  that 
of  Louis  XIV.  In  both  countries  we  see  the  central  power  bringing 
the  local  administrative  organs  more  and  more  under  its  control,  till 
at  last  it  succeeds  in  creating  a  thoroughly  centralized  bureaucratic 
organization.  But  under  this  superficial  resemblance  lie  profound 
differences.  The  French  kings  had  to  struggle  with  provincial  sov- 
ereignties and  feudal  rights,  and  when  they  had  annihilated  this 
opposition,  they  easily  found  materials  with  which  to  build  up  the 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 


237 


238  THE  IMPERIAL   ADMINISTRATION. 

bureaucratic  structure.  The  Russian  sovereigns,  on  the  contrary,  met 
with  no  such  opposition,  but  they  had  great  difficulty  in  finding 
bureaucratic  material  amongst  their  uneducated,  undisciplined  sub- 
jects. For  many  generations  schools  and  colleges  in  Russia  were 
founded  and  maintained  simply  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  men  for 
the  public  service. 

The  administration  was  thus  brought  much  nearer  to  the  West- 
European  ideal,  but  some  people  have  grave  doubts  as  to  whether  it 
became  thereby  better  adapted  to  the  practical  wants  of  the  people 
for  whom  it  was  created.  On  this  point,  a  well-known  Slavophil  once 
remarked,  that  "till  very  recently  there  was  in  Russia  an  enormous 
amount  of  official  peculation,  extortion,  and  misgovernment  of  every 
kind,  that  the  courts  of  law  were  dens  of  iniquity,  that  the  people 
often  committed  perjury,  and  much  more  of  the  same  sort,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  all  this  has  not  yet  entirely  disappeared.  But  what 
does  it  prove?  That  the  Russian  people  are  morally  inferior  to  the 
German  ?  Not  at  all.  It  simply  proves  that  the  German  system  of 
administration,  which  was  forced  upon  them  without  their  consent, 
was  utterly  unsuited  to  their  nature.  If  a  young  growing  boy  be 
compelled  to  wear  very  tight  boots,  he  will  probably  burst  them,  and 
the  ugly  rents  will  doubtless  produce  an  unfavorable  impression  on 
the  passers-by ;  but  surely  it  is  better  that  the  boots  should  burst  than 
that  the  feet  should  be  deformed.  Now  the  Russian  people  were 
compelled  to  put  on  not  only  tight  boots,  but  also  a  tight  jacket,  and, 
being  young  and  vigorous,  it  burst  them.  Narrow-minded,  pedantic 
Germans  can  neither  understand  nor  provide  for  the  wants  of  the 
broad  Slavonic  nature." 

In  its  present  form  the  Russian  administration  seems  at  first  sight  a 
very  imposing  edifice.  At  the  top  of  the  pyramid  stands  the  Emperor, 
"the  autocratic  monarch,"  as  Peter  the  Great  described  him,  "who 
has  to  give  an  account  of  his  acts  to  no  one  on  earth,  but  has  a  power 
and  authority  to  rule  his  states  and  lands  as  a  Christian  sovereign 
according  to  his  own  will  and  judgment."  Immediately  below  the 
Emperor  we  see  the  Council  of  State,  the  Committee  of  Ministers,  and 
the  Senate,  which  represent  respectively  the  legislative,  the  adminis- 
trative, and  the  judicial  power.  An  American  glancing  over  the  first 
volume  of  the  Code  might  imagine  that  the  Council  of  State  is  a  kind 
of  Congress,  and  the  Committee  of  Ministers  a  Cabinet,  but  in  reality 


THE  IMPERIAL   ADMINISTRATION.  239 

both  institutions  are  simply  incarnations  of  the  autocratic  power. 
Though  the  Council  is  intrusted  by  law  with  many  important  func- 
tions— such  as  examining  and  criticising  the  annual  budget,  declaring 
war,  concluding  peace,  and  performing  other  important  duties — it  has 
merely  an  advisory  character,  and  the  Emperor  is  not  in  any  way 
bound  by  its  decisions.  The  ministers  are  all  directly  and  individually 
responsible  to  the  Emperor,  and  therefore  the  Committee  has  no 
common  responsibility  or  other  cohesive  force.  As  to  the  Senate,  it 
has  descended  from  its  high  estate.  It  was  originally  intrusted  with 
the  supreme  power  during  the  absence  or  minority  of  the  monarch, 
and  was  intended  to  exercise  a  controlling  influence  in  all  sections  of 
the  administration,  but  now  its  activity  is  restricted  to  judicial  matters, 
and  it  is  little  more  than  a  supreme  court  of  appeal. 

Immediately  below  these  three  institutions  stand  the  Ministries,  ten 
in  number.  They  are  the  central  points,  in  which  converge  the 
various  kinds  of  territorial  administration,  and  from  which  radiates 
the  Imperial  will  all  over  the  Empire. 

For  the  purposes  of  territorial  administration  Russia  Proper — that 
is  to  say,  European  Russia,  exclusive  of  Poland,  the  Baltic  Provinces, 
Finland,  and  the  Caucasus,  each  of  which  has  a  peculiar  administra- 
tion of  its  own— is  divided  into  forty-six  provinces,  or  "  Governments," 
and  each  Government  is  subdivided  into  districts.  The  average  area 
of  a  province  is  about  the  size  of  Portugal,  but  some  are  as  small  as 
Belgium,  whilst  one  at  least  is  twenty-five  times  as  large.  The 
population,  however,  does  not  correspond  to  the  amount  of  territory. 
In  the  largest  province,  that  of  Archangel,  there  are  less  than  three 
hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  whilst  in  some  of  the  smaller  ones  there 
are  over  two  millions.     Tbe  districts  likewise  vary  greatly  in  size. 

Over  each  province  is  placed  a  Governor,  who  is  assisted  in  his 
duties  by  a  Vice-Governor  and  a  small  council.  According  to  the 
legislation  of  Catherine  II.,  the  Governor  is  termed  "  the  steward  of 
the  province,"  and  is  intrusted  with  so  many  and  such  delicate  duties, 
that  in  order  to  obtain  men  qualified  for  the  post,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  realize  the  great  Empress's  design  of  creating,  by  education,  "  a  new 
race  of  people."  Down  to  very  recent  times  the  Governors  understood 
the  term  "stewards"  in  a  very  literal  sense,  and  ruled  in  a  most 
arbitrary,  high-handed  style,  often  exercising  an  important  influence 
on  the  civil  and  criminal  tribunals.     These  extensive  and  vaguely- 


240  THE  IMPERIAL   ADMINISTRATION. 

defined  powers  have  now  been  very  much  curtailed,  partly  by  positive 
legislation,  and  partly  by  increased  publicity  and  improved  means  of 
communication.  All  judicial  matters  have  been  placed  completely 
beyond  the  Governor's  control,  and  many  of  his  former  functions  are 
now  fulfilled  by  the  Zemstvo — the  new  organ  of  local  self-government. 
Besides  this,  all  ordinary  current  affairs  are  regulated  by  an  already 
extensive  and  ever-growing  body  of  instructions,  in  the  form  of  Im- 
perial orders  and  ministerial  circulars,  and  as  soon  as  anything  not 
provided  for  by  the  instructions  happens  to  occur,  the  minister  is 
consulted  through  the  post-office  or  by  telegraph.  Even  within  the 
sphere  of  their  lawful  authority  the  Governors  have  now  a  certain 
respect  for  public  opinion,  and  occasionally  a  very  wholesome  dread 
of  casual  newspaper  correspondents.  Thus  the  men  who  were  formerly 
described  by  the  satirists  as  "  little  satraps,"  have  sunk  to  the  level  of 
very  subordinate  officials.  Many  (probably  the  majority)  of  them  are 
honest,  upright  men,  who  are  perhaps  not  endowed  with  any  unusual 
administrative  capacities,  but  who  perform  their  duties  faithfully 
according  to  their  lights. 

Independent  of  the  Governor,  who  is  the  local  representative  of  the 
Ministry  of  the  Interior,  are  a  number  of  resident  officials,  who 
represent  the  other  ministries,  and  each  of  them  has  a  bureau,  with 
the  requisite  number  of  assistants,  secretaries  and  scribes. 

To  keep  this  vast  and  complex  bureaucratic  machine  in  motion  it  is 
necessary  to  have  a  large  and  well-drilled  army  of  ofl[icials.  These 
are  drawn  chiefly  from  the  ranks  of  the  noblesse  and  the  clergy,  and 
form  a  peculiar  social  class  called  Tchinovniks,  or  men  with  "  Tchins." 
As  the  Tchin  plays  an  important  part  in  Russia  not  only  in  the  official 
world,  but  also  to  some  extent  in  social  life,  it  may  be  well  to  explain 
its  significance. 

All  offices,  civil  and  military,  are,  according  to  a  scheme  invented 
by  Peter  the  Great,  arranged  in  fourteen  classes  or  ranks,  and  to  each 
class  or  rank  a  particular  name  is  attached.  As  promotion  is  supposed 
to  be  given  according  to  personal  merit,  a  man  who  enters  the  public 
service  for  the  first  time  must,  whatever  be  his  social  position,  begin 
in  the  lower  ranks,  and  work  his  way  upwards.  Educational  certifi- 
cates may  exempt  him  from  the  necessity  of  passing  through  the  lowest 
classes,  and  the  Imperial  Avill  may  disregard  the  restrictions  laid  down 
by  law,  but  as  a  general  rule  a  man  must  begin  at  or  near  the  bottom 


Savfet  Pasha,  Tlkkish  MiNibTtR  of  Foreign  Affairs. 


THE  IMPERIAL   ADMINISTRATION: 


16 


242  THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

of  the  official  ladder,  and  he  must  remain  on  each  step  a  certain 
specified  time.  The  step  on  which  he  is  for  the  moment  standing,  or, 
in  other  words,  the  official  rank  or  Tchin  which  he  possesses,  deter- 
mines what  offices  he  is  competent  to  hold.  Thus  rank  or  Tchin  is  a 
necessary  condition  for  receiving  an  appointment,  but  it  does  not 
designate  any  actual  office,  and  the  names  of  the  different  ranks  are 
extremely  apt  to  mislead  a  foreigner. 

The  reader  of  practical  mind  desires  probably  no  further  description 
of  the  Eussian  bureaucracy,  but  wishes  to  know  simply  how  it  works 
in  practice.  What  has  it  done  for  Russia  in  the  past,  and  what  is  it 
doing  in  the  present? 

Without  a  strongly  centralized  administration  Russia  would  never 
have  become  one  of  the  great  European  powers.  Until  comparatively 
recent  times  the  part  of  the  world  which  is  known  as  the  Russian 
Empire  was  a  conglomeration  of  independent  or  semi-independent 
political  units;  and  even  at  the  present  day  it  is  far  from  being  a 
compact  homogeneous  State.  It  was  the  autocratic  power,  with  the 
centralized  administration  as  its  necessary  complement,  that  first 
created  Russia,  then  saved  her  from  dismemberment  and  political 
annihilation,  and  ultimately  secured  for  her  a  place  among  European 
nations  by  introducing  AVestern  civilization.  Theoretically  it  would 
have  been  better  that  the  various  units  should  have  united  sponta- 
neously, and  that  European  civilization  should  have  been  voluntarily 
adopted  by  all  classes  of  the  inhabitants,  but  historically  such  a 
phenomenon  was  impossible. 

Whilst  thus  recognizing  clearly  that  autocracy  and  a  strongly 
centralized  administration  were  necessary  first  for  the  creation  and 
afterwards  for  the  preservation  of  national  independence,  we  must  not 
shut  our  eyes  to  the  evil  consequences  which  resulted  from  this  unfor- 
tunate necessity.  It  was  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  Government, 
aiming  at  the  realization  of  designs  which  its  subjects  neither  sympa- 
thized with  nor  clearly  understood,  should  have  become  separated 
from  the  nation;  and  the  reckless  haste  and  violence  with  which  it 
attempted  to  carry  out  its  schemes  aroused  a  spirit  of  positive  opposi- 
tion among  the  people.  A  considerable  section  of  the  people  long 
looked  on  the  reforming  Czars  as  incarnations  of  the  spirit  of  evil,  and 
the  Czars  in  their  turn  looked  upon  the  people  as  a  passive  instrument 
for  the  carrying  out  of  their  political  designs.     This  peculiar  relation 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION.  243 

between  the  nation  and  the  Government  has  given  the  key-note  to  the 
whole  system  of  administration.  The  Government  has  always  treated 
the  people  as  minors,  utterly  incapable  of  understanding  its  political 
designs,  and  only  very  partially  competent  to  look  after  their  own 
local  afiairs.  The  officials  have  naturally  acted  in  the  same  spirit. 
Looking  for  direction  and  approbation  merely  to  their  superiors,  they 
have  systematically  treated  those  over  whom  they  were  placed,  as  a 
conquered  or  inferior  race.  The  State  has  thus  come  to  be  regarded 
as  an  abstract  entity,  with  interests  entirely  different  from  those  of  the 
human  beings  composing  it ;  and  in  all  matters  in  which  State  interests 
are  supposed  to  be  involved,  the  rights  of  individuals  are  ruthlessly 
sacrificed. 

If  we  remember  that  the  difficulties  of  centralized  administration 
are  always  in  direct  proportion  to  the  extent  and  territorial  variety 
of  the  country  to  be  governed,  we  may  readily  understand  how  slowly 
and  imperfectly  the  administrative  machine  necessarily  works  in 
Kussia.  The  whole  of  the  vast  region  stretching  from  the  Polar 
Ocean  to  the  Caspian,  and  from  the  shores  of  the  Baltic  to  the  confines 
of  the  Celestial  Empire,  is  administered  from  St.  Petersburg,  The 
genuine  bureaucrat  has  a  wholesome  dread  of  formal  responsibility, 
and  generally  tries  to  avoid  it  by  taking  all  matters  out  of  the  hands 
of  his  subordinates,  and  passing  them  on  to  the  higher  authorities. 
As  soon,  therefore,  as  affairs  are  caught  up  by  the  administrative 
machine  they  begin  to  ascend,  and  probably  arrive  some  day  at  the 
cabinet  of  the  minister.  Thus  the  ministries  are  flooded  with  papers 
— many  of  the  most  trivial  import — from  all  parts  of  the  Empire ;  and 
the  higher  officials,  even  if  they  had  the  eyes  of  an  Argus  and  the 
hands  of  a  Briareus,  could  not  possibly  fulfill  conscientiously  the 
,  duties  imposed  on  them.  In  reality  the  Russian  administrators  of  the 
higher  ranks  recall  neither  Argus  nor  Briareus.  They  commonly 
show  neither  an  extensive  nor  a  profound  knowledge  of  the  country 
which  they  are  supposed  to  govern,  and  seem  always  to  have  a  fair 
amount  of  leisure  time  at  their  disposal. 

Besides  the  unavoidable  evils  of  excessive  centralization,  Russia  has 
had  to  suffer  much  from  the  jobbery,  venality,  and  extortion  of  the 
officials.  When  Peter  the  Great  one  day  prepared  to  hang  every 
man  who  should  steal  as  much  as  would  buy  a  rope,  his  Procurator- 
General  frankly  replied  that  if  his  Majesty  put  his  project  into  execu- 


244  THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

tion  ttere  would  be  no  officials  left.  ""We  all  steal,"  added  the 
worthy  official;  "the  only  difference  is  that  some  of  us  steal  larger 
amounts  and  more  openly  than  others."  Since  these  "words  were 
spoken  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  has  passed,  and  during  all 
that  time  Kussia  has  steadily  made  progress  in  many  respects,  but 
until  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign  little  change  took  place 
in  the  moral  character  of  the  administration.  The  elder  half  of  the 
present  generation  can  still  remember  the  time  when  they  could  have 
repeated,  without  much  exaggeration,  the  confession  of  Peter's  Procu- 
rator-General. 

To  appreciate  aright  this  ugly  phenomenon  we  must  distinguish  two 
kinds  of  venality.  On  the  one  hand  there  was  the  habit  of  exacting 
what  are  vulgarly  termed  "  tips"  for  services  performed,  and  on  the 
other  there  were  the  various  kinds  of  positive  dishonesty.  Though  it 
might  not  be  always  easy  to  draw  a  clear  line  between  the  two  cate- 
gories, the  distinction  was  fully  recognized  in  the  moral  consciousness 
of  the  time,  and  many  an  official  who  received  regularly  "sinless 
revenues,"  as  the  tips  were  sometimes  called,  would  have  been  very 
indignant  had  he  been  stigmatized  as  a  dishonest  man.  The  practice 
was,  in  fact,  universal,  and  could  be,  to  a  certain  extent,  justified  by 
the  smallness  of  the  official  salaries.  In  some  departments  there  was 
a  recognized  tariff.  The  "brandy  farmers,"  for  example,  paid  regu- 
larly a  fixed  sum  to  every  official,  from  the  governor  to  the  policeman, 
according  to  his  rank.  In  one  case  an  official,  on  receiving  a  larger 
sum  than  was  customary,  conscientiously  handed  back  the  change! 
The  other  and  more  heinous  offences  were  by  no  means  so  common, 
but  were  still  fearfully  frequent.  Many  high  officials  and  important 
dignitaries  were  known  to  receive  large  revenues,  to  which  the  term 
"  sinless"  could  not  by  any  means  be  applied,  and  yet  they  retained 
their  position,  and  were  received  in  society  Avith  respectful  deference. 

The  sovereigns  were  always  perfectly  aware  of  the  abuses,  and  all 
strove  more  or  less  to  root  them  out,  but  the  success  which  attended 
their  efforts  does  not  give  us  a  very  exalted  idea  of  the  practical 
omnipotence  of  autocracy.  In  a  centralized  bureaucratic  administra- 
tion, in  which  each  official  is  to  a  certain  extent  responsible  for  the 
sins  of  his  subordinates,  it  is  always  extremely  difficult  to  bring  an 
official  culprit  to  justice,  for  he  is  sure  to  be  protected  by  his  superiors; 
and  when  the  superiors  are  themselves  habitually  guilty  of  malprac- 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 


245 


Cossacks  Entrenched  behind  their  Trained  Horses. 


tices,  the  culprit  is  quite  safe  from  exposure  and  punisliment.  The 
Czar,  indeed,  might  do  much  towards  exposing  and  punishing  offenders 
if  he  could  venture  to  call  in  public  opinion  to  his  assistance,  but  in 
reality  he  is  very  apt  to  become  a  party  to  the  system  of  hushing  up 
official  delinquencies.  He  is  himself  the  first  official  in  the  realm, 
and  he  knows  that  the  abuse  of  power  by  a  subordinate  has  a  tendency 
to  produce  hostility  towards  the  fountain  of  all  official  power.  Fre- 
quent punishment  of  officials  might,  it  is  thought,  diminish  public 
respect  for  the  Government,  and  undermine  that  social  discipline 
which  is  necessary  for  the  public  tranquility.  It  is  therefore  considered 
expedient  to  give  to  official  delinquencies  as  little  publicity  as  possible. 
Besides  this,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  a  Government  which  rests  on  the 
arbitrary  will  of  a  single  indi\ndual  is,  notwithstanding  occasional  out- 
bursts of  severity,  much  less  systematically  and  invariably  severe  than 
authority  founded  on  free  public  opinion.  When  delinquencies  occur 
in  very  high  places  the  Czar  is  almost  sure  to  display  a  leniency 
approaching  to  tendernes=  If  it  be  necessary  to  make  a  sacrifice  to 
justice,  the  sacrificial  operation  is  likely  to  be  made  as  painless  aa 


246  THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

may  be,  and  illustrious  scapegoats  are  not  allowed  to  die  of  starvation 
in  the  -wilderness — the  wilderness  being  generally  Paris  or  Baden- 
Baden.  This  fact  may  seem  strange  to  those  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
associating  autocracy  with  Keapolitan  dungeons  and  the  mines  of 
Siberia,  but  it  is  not  difficult  to  explain.  No  individual,  even  though 
he  should  be  the  Autocrat  of  all  the  Russias,  can  so  case  himself  in 
the  armor  of  official  dignity  as  to  be  completely  proof  against  personal 
influences.  The  severity  of  autocrats  is  reserved  for  political  offenders, 
against  whom  they  naturally  harbor  a  feeling  of  personal  resentment. 
It  is  so  much  easier  to  be  lenient  and  charitable  towards  a  man  who 
gins  against  public  morality,  than  towards  one  who  sins  against  our 
own  interests  I 

In  justice  to  the  bureaucratic  reformers  in  Eussia,  it  must  be  said 
that  they  have  preferred  prevention  to  cure.  Refraining  from  all 
Draconian  legislation,  they  have  put  their  faith  in  a  system  of  in- 
genious checks  and  a  complicated  formal  procedure.  When  we 
examine  the  complicated  formalities  and  labyrinthine  procedure  by 
which  the  administration  is  controlled,  our  first  impression  is  that 
administrative  abuses  must  be  almost  impossible.  Every  possible  act 
of  every  official  seems  to  have  been  foreseen,  and  every  possible  outlet 
from  the  narrow  path  of  honesty  seems  to  have  been  carefully  walled 
up.  As  the  American  reader  has  probably  no  conception  of  formal 
procedure  in  a  highly  centralized  bureaucracy,  let  us  give  an  instance 
by  way  of  illustration. 

In  the  residence  of  a  Governor-General  one  of  the  stoves  is  in  need 
of  repairs.  An  ordinary  mortal  may  assume  that  a  man  with  the 
rank  of  Governor-General  may  be  trusted  to  expend  a  few  shillings 
conscientiously,  and  that  consequently  his  Excellency  will  at  once 
order  the  repairs  to  be  made  and  the  payment  to  be  put  down  among 
the  petty  expenses.  To  the  bui-eaucratic  mind  the  case  appears  in  a 
very  different  light.  All  possible  contingencies  must  be  carefully 
provided  for.  As  a  Governor-General  may  possibly  be  possessed  with 
a  mania  for  making  useless  alterations,  the  necessity  of  the  repairs 
ought  to  be  verified ;  and  as  wisdom  and  honesty  are  more  likely  to 
reside  in  an  assembly  than  in  an  individual,  it  is  well  to  intrust  the 
verification  to  a  council.  A  council  of  three  or  four  members  accord- 
ingly certifies  that  the  repairs  are  necessary.  This  is  pretty  strong 
authority,  but  it  is  not  enough.   Councils  are  composed  of  mere  human 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION.  247 

beings,  liable  to  error  and  subject  to  be  intimidated  by  the  Governor- 
General.  It  is  prudent,  therefore,  to  demand  that  the  decision  of  the 
council  be  confirmed  by  the  Procureur,  who  is  directly  subordinated 
to  the  Minister  of  Justice.  When  this  double  confirmation  has  been 
obtained,  an  architect  examines  the  stove  and  makes  an  estimate. 
But  it  would  be  dangerous  to  give  carte  hlanche  to  an  architect,  and 
therefore  the  estimate  has  to  be  confirmed,  first  by  the  aforesaid 
council  and  afterwards  by  the  Procureur.  When  all  these  formalities 
— which  require  sixteen  days  and  ten  sheets  of  paper — have  been  duly 
observed,  his  Excellency  is  informed  that  the  contemplated  repairs 
will  cost  two  roubles  and  forty  kopecks,  or  about  one  dollar  and  twenty- 
five  cents  of  our  money.  Even  here  the  formalities  do  not  stop,  for 
the  Government  must  have  the  assurance  that  the  architect  who  made 
the  estimate  and  superintended  the  repairs  has  not  been  guilty  of 
negligence.  A  second  architect  is  therefore  sent  to  examine  the  work, 
and  his  report,  like  the  estimate,  requires  to  be  confirmed  by  the 
council  and  the  Procureur.  The  whole  correspondence  lasts  thirty 
days,  and  requires  no  less  than  thirty  sheets  of  paper!  Had  the 
person  who  desired  the  repairs  been  not  a  Governor-General  but  an 
ordinary  mortal  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  long  the  procedure  might 
have  lasted. 

It  might  naturally  be  supposed  that  this  circuitous  and  complicated 
method,  with  its  registers,  ledgers,  and  minutes  of  proceeding,  must  at 
least  prevent  pilfering;  but  this  conclusion  has  been  emphatically 
belied  by  experience.  Every  new  ingenious  device  had  merely  the 
efiect  of  producing  a  still  more  ingenious  means  of  avoiding  it.  The 
system  did  not  restrain  those  who  wished  to  pilfer,  and  it  had  a  dele- 
terious effect  on  honest  officials,  by  making  them  feel  that  the  Govern- 
ment reposed  no  confidence  in  them.  Besides  this,  it  produced  among 
all  officials,  honest  and  dishonest  alike,  the  habit  of  systematic 
falsification.  As  it  was  impossible  for  even  the  most  pedantic  of  men 
— and  pedantry,  be  it  remarked,  is  a  rare  quality  among  Russians — 
to  fulfill  conscientiously  all  the  prescribed  formalities,  it  became 
customary  to  observe  the  forms  merely  on  paper.  Officials  certified 
facts  which  they  never  dreamed  of  examining,  and  secretaries  gravely 
wrote  the  minutes  of  meetings  that  had  never  been  held !  Thus,  in  the 
case  above  cited,  the  repairs  were  in  reality  begun  and  ended  long 
before   the  architect  was   officially  authorized   to  begin   the  work. 


248  THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  comedy  was  nevertheless  gravely  played  out  to  the  end,  so  that 
any  one  afterwards  revising  the  documents  would  have  found  that 
everything  had  been  done  in  perfect  order. 

Perhaps  the  most  ingenious  means  for  preventing  administrative 
abuses  was  devised  by  the  Emperor  Nicholas.  Fully  aware  that  he 
was  regularly  and  systematically  deceived  by  the  ordinary  officials,  he 
formed  a  body  of  well-paid  officers,  called  the  "  Gendarmerie,"  who 
were  scattered  over  the  country,  and  ordered  to  report  directly  to  his 
Majesty  whatever  seemed  to  them  worthy  of  attention.  Bureaucratic 
minds  considered  this  an  admirable  expedient ;  and  the  Czar  confidently 
expected  that  he  would,  by  means  of  these  official  observers  who  had 
no  interest  in  concealing  the  truth,  be  able  to  know  everything,  and 
to  correct  all  official  abuses.  In  reality  the  institution  produced  a  few 
good  results,  aud  in  some  respects  had  a  very  pernicious  influence. 
Though  picked  men  and  provided  with  good  salaries,  these  officers 
were  all  more  or  less  permeated  with  the  prevailing  spirit.  They 
could  not  but  feel  that  they  were  regarded  as  spies  and  informers — a 
humiliating  conviction,  little  calculated  to  develop  that  feeling  of 
self-respect  which  is  the  main  foundation  of  uprightness — and  that  all 
their  efforts  could  do  but  little  good.  They  were,  in  fact,  in  pretty 
much  the  same  position  as  Peter's  Procurator-General,  and,  with  that 
bonhomie  which  is  a  prominent  trait  of  the  Russian  character,  they 
disliked  ruining  individuals  who  were  no  worse  than  the  majority  of 
their  fellows.  Besides  this,  according  to  the  received  code  of  official 
morality,  insubordination  was  a  more  heinous  sin  than  dishonesty,  and 
political  offences  were  regarded  as  the  blackest  of  all.  The  Gendar- 
merie shut  their  eyes,  therefore,  to  the  prevailing  abuses,  which  were 
believed  to  be  incurable,  and  directed  their  attention  to  real  or 
imaginary  political  delinquencies.  Oppression  and  extortion  remained 
unnoticed,  whilst  an  incautious  word  or  a  foolish  joke  at  the  expense 
of  the  Government  was  too  often  magnified  into  an  act  of  high  treason. 

This  force  still  exists,  and  has  at  least  one  representative  in  every 
important  town.  It  serves  as  a  kind  of  supplement  to  the  ordinary 
police,  and  is  generally  employed  in  all  matters  in  which  secrecy  is 
required.  Unfortunately  it  is  not  bound  by  those  legal  restrictions 
which  protect  the  public  against  the  arbitrary  will  of  the  ordinary 
authorities.  It  has  a  vaguely-defined  roving  commission,  to  watch 
and  arrest  all  persons  who  seem  to  it  any  way  dangerous  or  suspicious  j 


THE  IMPERIAL   ADMINISTRATION. 


249 


Lieutenant  T.  Doubassoff,  of  the  Russian  Navy. 


and  it  may  keep  such  in  confinement  for  an  indefinite  time,  or  remove 
them  to  some  distant  and  inhospitable  part  of  the  Empire,  without 
making  them  undergo  a  regular  trial.  It  is,  in  short,  the  ordinary 
instrument  for  punishing  political  dreamers,  suppressing  secret  societies, 
counteracting  political  agitations,  and  in  general  executing  the  extra- 
legal orders  of  the  Government. 

Neither  the  gendarmerie  nor  the  ingenious  formal  procedure  ma- 
terially diminished  the  venality,  dishonesty,  and  other  vices  of  the 
officials.  The  attempt  to  remedy  these  evils  by  means  of  decentraliza- 
tion and  popular  election  proved  equally  unsuccessful.  From  the 
time  of  Catherine  II.  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  present  reign 
the  rural  police  and  the  judges  of  each  province  and  district  were 


250 


THE  IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION. 


elected  by  the  local  inhabitants,  and  the  history  of  these  institutions, 
which  were,  if  possible,  worse  than  the  Imperial  administration,  forma 
an  ugly,  inconvenient  episode  for  those  who  believe  in  the  magical 
efficacy  of  local  self-government  under  all  circumstances. 

The  only  effectual  remedy  for  administrative  abuses  lies  in  placing 
the  administration  under  public  control.  This  has  been  abundantly 
proved  in  Russia,  All  the  efforts  of  the  Czars  during  many  genera- 
tions to  check  the  evil  by  means  of  ingenious  bureaucratic  devices 
proved  utterly  fruitless.  Even  the  iron  will  and  gigantic  energy  of 
Nicholas  were  insufficient  for  the  task.  But  when,  after  the  Crimean 
War,  there  was  a  great  moral  awakening  and  the  Czar  called  the 
people  to  his  assistance,  the  stubborn,  deep-rooted  evils  immediately 
disappeared.  For  a  time  venality  and  extortion  were  unknown,  and 
since  that  period  they  have  never  been  able  to  regain  their  old  force. 

At  the  present  moment  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  administration  is 
immaculate,  but  it  is  incomparably  purer  than  at  any  former  period 
of  its  history.  Though  public  opinion  is  no  longer  so  powerful  as  it 
was  a  few  years  ago,  it  is  still  strong  enough  to  repress  many  mal- 
practices which  in  the  time  of  Nicholas  and  his  predecessors  were  too 
frequent  to  attract  attention. 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR  LOCAL   ADMINISTRATION.  251 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  ZEMSTVO,  OR  LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  Zemstvo  is  a  kind  of  local  government  which  supplements  the 
action  of  the  rural  communes,  and  takes  cognizance  of  those  higher 
public  wants  which  individual  communes  cannot  possibly  satisfy.  Its 
principal  duties  are  to  keep  the  roads  and  bridges  in  proper  repair,  to 
provide  means  of  conveyance  for  the  rural  police  and  other  officials,  to 
elect  the  justices  of  the  peace,  to  look  after  primary  education  and 
sanitary  affairs,  to  watch  the  state  of  the  crops  and  take  measures 
against  approaching  famine,  and  in  short  to  undertake,  within  certain 
clearly-defined  limits,  whatever  seems  likely  to  increase  the  material 
and  moral  well-being  of  the  population.  It  consists  of  an  assembly 
of  deputies  which  meets  at  least  once  a  year,  and  of  a  permanent 
executive  bureau  elected  by  the  assembly  from  among  its  members. 
Once  every  three  years  the  deputies  are  elected  in  certain  fixed  pro- 
portions by  the  landed  proprietors,  the  rural  communes,  and  the 
municipal  corporations.  Every  province  and  each  of  the  districts  into 
which  the  province  is  subdivided  has  such  an  assembly  and  such  a 
bureau. 

The  visitor  to  a  District  Assembly  will  find  thirty  or  forty  men 
seated  around  a  long  table  covered  with  green  cloth.  Before  each 
member  lie  sheets  of  paper  for  the  purpose  of  taking  notes,  and  before 
the  president  stands  a  small  hand-bell,  which  he  rings  vigorously  at 
the  commencement  of  the  proceedings  and  on  all  occasions  when  he 
wishes  to  obtain  silence.  To  the  right  and  left  of  the  president  sit  the 
members  of  the  executive  bureau,  armed  with  piles  of  wi'itten  and 
prmted  documents,  from  which  they  read  long  and  tedious  extracts, 
till  the  majority  of  the  audience  take  to  yawning,  and  one  or  two  of 
the  members  perhaps  go  to  sleep.  At  the  close  of  each  of  these 
reports  the  president  rings  his  bell— presumably  for  the  purpose  of 
awakening  the  sleepers — and  inquires  whether  any  one  has  remarks  to 
make  on  what  has  just  been  read.  Generally  some  one  has  remarks 
to  make,  and  not  unfrequently  a  discussion  ensues.  When  any  decided 
difference  of  opinion  appears,  a  vote  is  taken  by  banding  around  a 


252  THE    ZEMSTVO,    OR    LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION: 

sheet  of  paper,  or  by  the  simpler  method  of  requesting  the  Ayes  to 
stand  up  and  the  Noes  to  sit  still. 

What  is  most  surprising  in  such  an  assembly  is,  that  it  is  composed 
partly  of  nobles  and  partly  of  peasants — the  latter  being  decidedly  in 
the  majority — and  that  no  trace  of  antagonism  seems  to  exist  between 
the  two  classes.  Landed  proprietors  and  their  former  serfs  evidently 
meet  for  the  moment  on  a  footing  of  equality.  The  discussions  are 
always  carried  on  by  the  nobles,  but  occasionally  peasant  members 
rise  to  speak,  and  their  remarks,  always  clear,  practical,  and  to  the 
point,  are  invariably  listened  to  with  respectful  attention  by  all 
present.  Instead  of  that  violent  antagonism  which  might  be  expected 
considering  the  constitution  of  the  assembly,  there  is  a  great  deal  too 
much  unanimity — a  fact  indicating  plainly  that  the  majority  of  the 
members  do  not  take  a  very  deep  interest  in  the  matters  presented  to 
them. 

In  general  character  and  mode  of  procedure  the  Assembly  for  the 
Province  resembles  closely  the  District  Assembly.  Its  chief  peculiari- 
ties are  that  its  members  are  chosen,  not  by  the  primary  electors,  but 
by  the  assemblies  of  the  ten  Districts  which  compose  the  Province, 
and  that  it  takes  cognizance  merely  of  those  matters  which  concern 
more  than  one  District.  Besides  this,  the  peasant  deputies  are  very  few 
in  number,  although,  according  to  the  law,  the  peasant  members  of 
the  District  Assemblies  are  eligible,  like  those  of  the  other  classes. 
The  explanation  is  that  the  District  Assemblies  choose  their  most 
active  members  to  represent  them  in  the  Provincial  Assemblies,  and 
consequently  the  choice  generally  falls  on  landed  proprietors.  To  this 
arrangement  the  peasants  make  no  objection,  for  attendance  at  the 
Provincial  Assemblies  demands  a  considerable  pecuniary  outlay,  and 
payment  to  the  deputies  is  expressly  prohibited  by  law. 

To  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  elements  composing  this  assembly, 
let  us  introduce  him  to  a  few  of  the  members.  A  considerable  section 
of  them  may  be  described  in  a  single  sentence.  They  are  common- 
place men,  who  have  spent  part  of  their  youth  in  the  public  service  as 
officers  in  the  army,  or  officials  in  the  civil  administration,  and  have 
since  retired  to  their  estates,  where  they  gain  a  modest  competence  by 
farming.  Some  of  them  add  to  their  agricultural  revenues  by  acting 
as  justices  of  the  peace.     A  few  may  be  described  more  particularly. 

For  instance,  that  fine-looking  old  general  in  uniform,  "witli  the  St. 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR   LOCAL   ADMINLSTRATION.  253 


254  THE   ZEMSTVO,    OR  LOCAL   ADMINISTRATION. 

George's  Cross  at  his  button-hole — an  order  given  only  for  bravery  in 
the  field,  is  a  grandson  of  one  of  Russia's  greatest  men.  He  has  filled 
high  posts  in  the  administration  without  ever  tarnishing  his  name  by 
a  dishonest  or  dishonorable  action,  and  has  spent  a  great  part  of  his 
life  at  Court  without  ceasing  to  be  frank,  generous,  and  truthful. 
Though  he  has  no  intimate  knowledge  of  current  affairs,  and  some- 
times gives  way  a  little  to  drowsiness,  his  sympathies  in  disputed  points 
are  always  on  the  right  side,  and  when  he  gets  to  his  feet  he  always 
speaks  in  a  clear,  soldier-like  fashion. 

The  tall  gaunt  man,  somewhat  over  middle  age,  who  sits  near  him, 
has  an  historical  name,  but  he  cherishes  above  all  things  personal 
independence,  and  has  consequently  always  kept  aloof  from  the  Ad- 
ministration and  the  Court.  The  leisure  thus  acquired  he  has  devoted 
to  study,  and  he  has  produced  several  very  valuable  works  on  political 
and  social  science.  An  enthusiastic  but  at  the  same  time  cool-headed 
abolitionist  at  the  time  of  the  Emancipation,  he  has  since  constantly 
striven  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  peasantry  by  advocating  the 
spread  of  primary  education,  the  establishment  of  rural  credit  associa- 
tions in  the  villages,  the  preservation  of  the  communal  institutions, 
and  numerous  important  reforms  in  the  financial  system.  In  the  As- 
sembly he  speaks  frequently,  and  always  commands  attention ;  and  in 
all  important  committees  he  is  a  leading  member.  His  neighbor  is 
one  of  the  most  able  and  energetic  members  of  the  assembly.  He  is 
president  of  the  executive  bureau  in  one  of  the  Districts,  where  he  has 
founded  many  primary  schools,  and  created  several  rural  credit  asso- 
ciations. 

To  the  right  and  left  of  the  president — who  is  Marshal  of  Noblesse 
for  the  province — sit  the  members  of  the  bureau.  The  gentleman  who 
reads  the  long  reports  is  "  the  prime  minister,"  who  began  life  as  a 
cavalry  officer,  and  after  a  few  years  of  military  service  retired  to  his 
estate ;  he  is  an  intelligent,  able  administrator,  and  a  man  of  literary 
culture.  His  colleague,  who  assists  him  in  reading  the  reports,  is  a 
merchant,  and  director  of  the  municipal  bank.  His  neighbor  is  also 
a  merchant,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  remarkable  man  in  the 
room.  Though  born  a  serf,  he  is  already  an  important  personage  in 
the  Russian  commercial  world. 

All  these  men  belong  to  what  may  be  called  the  party  of  progress, 
which  anxiously  supports  all  proposals  recognized  as  "liberal,"  and 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR   LOCAL   ADMINISTRATION.  255 

especially  all  measures  likely  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  peasan- 
try. Their  chief  opponent  is  that  little  man  with  close-cropped, 
bullet-shaped  head  and  small  piercing  eyes,  -who  may  be  called  the 
leader  of  the  opposition.  That  gentleman  opposes  many  of  the  pro- 
posed schemes,  on  the  ground  that  the  province  is  already  overtaxed, 
and  that  the  expenditure  ought  therefore  to  be  reduced  to  the  smallest 
possible  figure.  In  the  District  Assembly  he  preaches  this  doctrine 
with  considerable  success,  for  there  the  peasantry  form  the  majority, 
and  he  knows  how  to  use  that  terse,  homely  language,  interspersed 
with  proverbs,  which  has  far  more  influence  on  the  rustic  mind  than 
Bcientific  principles  and  logical  reasoning ;  but  here,  in  the  Provincial 
Assembly,  his  following  composes  only  a  respectable  minority,  and  he 
confines  himself  to  a  policy  of  obstruction. 

The  reader  may  perhaps  imagine  that  the  Zemstvo  has,  like  the 
rural  Commune,  grown  up  slowly  in  the  course  of  centuries,  and  is  in 
its  present  form  a  remnant  of  ancient  liberties,  which  has  successfully 
resisted  the  centralizing  tendencies  of  the  autocratic  power.  In  reality- 
it  is  nothing  of  the  sort.  It  is  a  modern  institution,  created  by  the 
autocratic  power  about  ten  years  ago,  and  represents  the  most  recent 
attempt  to  lighten  the  duties  and  correct  the  abuses  of  the  Imperial 
administration  by  means  of  local  self-government. 

How  came  it,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  that  the  autocratic  ]50wer, 
which  is  believed  to  have  a  superstitious  dread  of  popular  institutions,, 
voluntarily  created  in  each  District  and  in  each  Province  an  organiza- 
tion so  extremely  democratic?  With  the  view  of  explaining  this 
curious  anomaly  we  must  endeavor  to  initiate  the  reader  into  the 
mysteries  of  Eussian  bureaucratic  law-making. 

When  a  minister  considers  that  some  institution  belonging  to  his 
branch  of  the  service  requires  to  be  reformed,  he  presents  to^  the 
Emperor  a  formal  explanatory  report  on  the  subject.  If  his  Majesty 
adopts  the  suggestion  he  orders  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  the 
purpose  of  considering  the  question  and  forming  a  definite  project. 
The  commission  meets,  and  sets  to  work  in  what  seems  a  very  thorough 
way.  It  first  studies  the  history  of  the  institution  in  Russia  from 
the  earliest  times  downwards— or  rather  it  listens  to  an  essay  on  the 
subject,  specially  prepared  for  the  occasion  by  some  official  who  has  a 
taste  for  historical  studies,  and  can  write  a  pleasant  style.  The  next 
step— to  use  a  phrase  which  often  occurs  in  the  minutes  of  such  com- 


256  THE   ZEMSTVO,    OR    LOCAL    ADMINISTRATION: 

missions — consists  in  "shedding  the  light  of  science  on  the  question." 
This  important  operation  consists  in  preparing  a  memorial,  containing 
the  history  of  similar  institutions  in  foreign  countries,  and  an  elaborate 
exposition  of  numerous  theories  held  by  French  and  German  philoso- 
phical jurists.  In  these  memorials  it  is  often  considered  necessary  to 
include  every  European  country  except  Turkey,  and  sometimes  the 
small  German  states  and  principal  Swiss  cantons  are  treated  sepa- 
rately. 

To  illustrate  the  character  of  these  wonderful  productions,  let  us, 
from  a  pile  of  such  papers,  take  one  almost  at  random.  It  is  a 
memorial  relating  to  a  proposed  reform  of  benevolent  institutions. 
First,  we  find  a  philosophical  disquisition  on  benevolence  in  general ; 
next,  some  remarks  on  the  Talmud  and  the  Koran ;  then  a  reference 
to  the  treatment  of  paupers  in  Athens  after  the  Peloponnesian  War, 
and  in  Rome  under  the  emperors ;  then  some  vague  observations  on 
the  Middle  Ages,  with  a  quotation  evidently  intended  to  be  Latin; 
lastly,  comes  an  account  of  the  poor-laws  of  modern  times,  in  which 
we  meet  with  "the  Anglo-Saxon  domination,"  King  Egbert,  King 
Ethelred;  "a  remarkable  book  of  Icelandic  laws,  called  Hragas;" 
Sweden  and  Norway,  France,  Holland,  Belgium,  Prussia,  and  nearly 
all  the  minor  German  states.  The  most  wonderful  thing  is  that  all 
this  mass  of  historical  information,  extending  from  the  Talmud  to  the 
most  recent  legislation,  is  compressed  into  twenty-one  octavo  pages  1 
The  theoretical  part  of  the  memorial  is  equally  rich.  Many  respected 
names  from  the  literature  of  Europe  are  forcibly  dragged  in ;  and  the 
general  conclusion  drawn  from  this  mass  of  raw,  undigested  materials 
is  believed  to  be  "  the  latest  results  of  science." 

When  the  quintessence  of  human  wisdom  and  experience  has  thus 
been  extracted,  the  commission  considers  how  the  valuable  product 
may  be  applied  to  Russia,  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  existing  general 
conditions  and  local  peculiarities.  For  a  man  of  practical  mind  this 
is,  of  course,  the  most  interesting  and  most  important  part  of  the 
operation,  but  from  Russian  legislators  it  receives  comparatively  little 
attention.  Vague  general  phrases,  founded  on  a  priori  reasoning 
rather  than  on  observation,  together  with  a  few  statistical  tables — 
which  the  cnutious  investigator  should  avoid  as  he  would  an  ambus- 
cade— are  too  often  all  that  is  to  be  found. 

From   the  commi.>sion  tlic  project  passes  to  the  Council  of  State, 


THE   ZEMSTVO,    OR    LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION:  257 


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258  THE   ZEMSTVO,    OR    LOCAL    ADMINISTRATION. 

where  it  is  examined,  criticised,  and  perhaps  modified,  but  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  thereby  much  improved,  for  the  members  of  the  council 
are  merely  former  members  of  commissions,  hardened  by  a  few  addi- 
tional years  of  official  routine.  The  Council  is,  in  fact,  an  assembly 
of  officials  who  know  little  of  the  practical,  everyday  wants  of  the 
unofficial  classes.  No  merchant,  manufacturer,  or  farmer  ever  enters 
its  sacred  precincts,  so  that  its  bureaucratic  serenity  is  never  disturbed 
by  practical  objections. 

The  commission  ai^pointed  in  1859  for  the  purpose  of  "conferring 
more  unity  and  independence  on  the  local  economic  administration" 
proceeded  in  a  less  extravagant  way  than  the  two  commissions  just 
referred  to.  Though  some  remarks  were  made  on  the  earliest  period 
of  Russian  history,  there  was  no  reference  to  the  Talmud  and  the 
Koran,  and  no  attempt  to  define  Athenian  local  administration  after 
the  Peloponuesian  War.  But  the  spirit  which  reigned  in  the  com- 
mission was  essentially  bureaucratic,  and  the  method  ',f  procedure  wa-s 
that  which  we  have  described.  This  accounts  for  many  peculiarities 
of  the  new  institutions. 

The  law  which  the  commission  elaborated  was  publiohed  in  January, 
1864,  and  produced  inordinate  expectations.  At  that  time  a  large 
section  of  the  Russian  educated  classes  had  a  simple,  convenient 
criterion  for  institutions  of  all  kinds.  They  assumed  as  a  self-evident 
axiom  that  the  excellence  of  an  institution  must  always  be  in  pro- 
portion to  its  "liberal"  and  democratic  character.  The  question  as  to 
how  far  it  might  be  appropriate  to  the  existing  conditions  and  to  the 
character  of  the  people,  and  as  to  whether  it  might  not,  though 
admirable  in  itself,  be  too  expensive  for  the  work  to  be  performed, 
was  little  thought  of.  Any  organization  which  rested  on  "  the  elective 
principle,"  and  provided  an  arena  for  free  public  discussion,  was  sure 
to  be  well  received,  and  these  conditions  were  fulfilled  by  the  Zemstvo. 

The  expectations  excited  were  of  various  kinds.  People  who 
thought  more  of  political  than  economic  progress  saw  in  the  new 
institutions  the  basis  of  boundless  popular  liberty,  in  which  the  peasant 
would  be  on  a  level  with  the  richest  landed  proprietors.  People  who 
were  accustomed  to  think  of  social  rather  than  political  progress 
expected  that  the  Zemstvo  would  soon  provide  the  country  with  good 
roads,  safe  bridges,  numerous  village  schools,  well-appointed  hospitals, 
and  all  the  other  requisites  of  civilization.     Agriculture  would  be 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR   LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION.  259 

improved,  trade  and  industry  developed,  and  the  condition  of  the 
peasantry  ameliorated.  The  listless  apathy  of  provincial  life  and  the 
hereditary  indifference  to  local  public  affairs  were  now,  it  was  thought, 
about  to  be  dispelled ;  and  in  view  of  this  change  patriotic  mothers 
took  their  children  to  the  assemblies  in  order  to  accustom  them  from 
their  early  years  to  take  an  interest  in  the  public  welfare. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  these  inordinate  expectations 
have  not  been  realized.  The  Government  had  no  intention  of  con- 
ferring on  the  new  institutions  any  political  significance,  and  very 
soon  showed  that  it  would  not  allow  the  assemblies  to  exert  even  a 
moral  pressure  by  means  of  petitions  and  political  agitation.  As  soon 
as  the  Zemstvo  of  St.  Petersburg  gave  evidence  of  a  desire  to  play  a 
political  part,  the  assembly  was  at  once  closed  by  Imperial  command, 
and  several  of  the  leading  members  were  banished  for  a  time  from  the 
capital. 

Even  in  its  proper  sphere,  as  defined  by  law,  the  Zemstvo  has  not 
accomplished  what  was  expected  of  it.  The  country  has  not  been 
covered  with  a  network  of  macadamized  roads,  and  the  bridges  are  by 
no  means  as  safe  as  could  be  desired  there  are  still  few  village  schools, 
and  infirmaries  are  rarely  to  be  met  with.  Little  or  nothing  has  been 
done  for  the  development  of  trade  or  manufactures ;  and  the  villages 
remain  very  much  what  they  were  under  the  old  administration. 
Meanwhile  the  local  rates  have  been  rising  with  alarming  rapidity; 
and  many  people  draw  from  all  this  the  conclusion  that  the  Zemstvo 
is  a  worthless  institution  which  has  increased  the  taxation  without 
conferring  any  corresponding  benefit  on  the  country. 

If  we  take  as  our  criterion  in  judging  the  institution  the  exaggerated 
expectations  at  first  entertained,  we  may  feel  inclined  to  agree  with 
this  conclusion,  but  this  is  merely  tantamount  to  saying  that  the 
Zemstvo  has  performed  no  miracles.  Russia  is  much  poorer  and 
much  less  densely  populated  than  the  more  advanced  nations  which 
she  takes  as  her  model.  To  suppose  that  she  could  at  once  create  for 
herself  by  means  of  an  administrative  reform  all  the  conveniences 
which  those  more  advanced  nations  enjoy,  was  as  absurd  as  it  would 
be  to  imagine  that  a  poor  man  can  at  once  construct  a  magnificent 
palace  because  he  has  received  from  a  wealthy  neighbor  the  necessary 
architectural  plans.  Not  only  years  but  generations  must  pass  before 
Russia  can  assume  the  appearance  of  Germany,  France,  or  England, 


260  THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR   LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

The  metamorphosis  may  be  accelerated  or  retarded  by  good  govern- 
ment, but  it  could  not  be  effected  at  once,  even  if  the  combined 
wisdom  of  all  the  philosophers  and  statesmen  in  Europe  were  employed 
in  legislating  for  the  purpose. 

The  Zemstvo  has,  however,  done  much  more  than  the  majority  of 
its  critics  suppose.  In  the  first  place,  it  fulfills  tolerably  well  its  ordi- 
nary everyday  duties,  and  is  very  little  tainted  with  peculation  and 
jobbery.  Secondly,  it  has  greatly  improved  the  condition  of  the 
hospitals,  asylums,  and  other  benevolent  institutions  committed  to  its 
charge ;  and  it  has  done  much,  considering  the  limited  means  at  its  dis- 
posal, for  the  spread  of  popular  education  by  founding  village  schools 
and  a  few  seminaries  for  the  preparation  of  schoolmasters.  In  the 
third  place,  the  Zemstvo  has  created  a  new  and  more  equitable  system 
of  rating,  by  which  the  landed  proprietors  and  owners  of  houses  are 
made  to  bear  their  share  of  the  public  burdens.  Last,  and  not  least, 
it  has  created  a  system  of  mutual  fire  insurance  for  the  villagers — a 
most  valuable  institution  in  a  country  like  Russia,  where  the  great 
majority  of  the  peasants  live  in  wooden  houses,  and  fires  are  extremely 
frequent. 

Notwithstanding  these  important  results,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  Zemstvo  is  at  present  in  a  somewhat  critical  state.  It  no  longer 
enjoys  public  confidence,  and  already  shows  unmistakable  symptoms 
of  exhaustion.  This  fact  is  recognized  by  all ;  and  the  best  authori- 
ties are  pretty  nearly  unanimous  regarding  the  cause  of  the  phe- 
nomenon. The  Government,  they  say,  conceived  in  a  moment  of 
enthusiasm  the  project  of  conferring  local  self-government  on  the 
people,  but  it  afterwards  became  frightened,  and  put  heavy  fetters  on 
the  young  institution.  The  assemblies  were  obliged  to  accept  as  presi- 
dents the  marshals  of  noblesse.  A  limit  was  placed  to  the  taxation  of 
trade  and  industry,  and  consequently  the  mercantile  class  lost  all 
interest  in  the  proceedings.  The  publicity  which  was  at  first  granted 
to  the  assemblies  was  afterwards  diminished  by  giving  to  the  governors 
of  provinces  the  right  to  prevent  the  publication  of  the  minutes  and 
other  documents.  These  restrictions,  it  is  said,  have  rendered  all  free, 
vigorous  action  impossible. 

We  have  here  an  explanation  which  is  thoroughly  in  accordance 
with  Russian  conceptions  and  habits  of  thought.  When  anything  goes 
wrong  in  Russia  there  is  always  a  tendency  to  assume  that  the  Gov- 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR   LOCAL   ADMINISTRATION.  261 


Russian  Peasants. 


262  THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR  LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION. 

eminent  is  to  blame,  and  St.  Petersburg  is  expected  to  supply  the 
remedy.  As  the  Government  attempts  to  control  everything,  the 
tendency  is  perfectly  natural,  but  the  explanation  to  which  it  gives  rise 
is  not  wholly  satisfactory  Avith  regard  to  the  Zemstvo.  If  it  is  unde- 
niable that  considerable  restrictions  have  been  placed  on  its  freedom  of 
action,  it  is  equally  undeniable  that  an  institution  which  succumbs  so 
easily  must  have  very  little  true  vitality  in  it.  In  our  opinion  the 
cause  of  that  exhaustion  and  languor  Avhich  the  Zemstvo  at  present 
displays  lies  much  deeper,  and  must  be  sought  in  one  of  the  essential 
peculiarities  of  Russian  national  life.  The  political  history  of  Russia 
during  the  last  two  centuries  may  be  briefly  described  as  a  series  of 
revolutions  effected  peaceably  by  the  autocratic  power.  Each  young 
energetic  sovereign  has  attempted  to  inaugurate  a  new  epoch  by 
thoroughly  remodeling  the  administration  according  to  the  most  ap- 
proved foreign  political  philosophy  of  the  time.  Institutions  have  not 
been  allowed  to  grow  spontaneously  out  of  popular  wants,  but  have 
been  invented  by  bureaucratic  theorists  to  satisfy  wants  of  which  the 
people  were  still  unconscious.  The  administrative  machine  has  there- 
fore derived  little  or  no  motive  force  from  the  people,  and  has  always 
been  kept  in  motion  by  the  unaided  energy  of  the  central  Govern- 
ment. Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  repeated 
attempts  of  the  Government  to  lighten  the  burdens  of  centralized 
administration  by  creating  organs  of  local  self-government  should  have 
been  eminently  unsuccessful. 

The  Zemstvo,  it  is  true,  offered  better  chances  of  success  than  any 
of  its  predecessors.  A  large  portion  of  the  nobles  had  become  alive  to 
the  necessity  of  improving  the  administration,  and  the  popular  interest 
in  public  affairs  was  much  greater  than  at  any  former  period.  Hence 
there  was  at  first  a  ])criod  of  enthusiasm,  during  Avhich  great  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  future  activity,  and  not  a  little  was  actually 
effected.  The  institution  had  all  the  charm  of  novelty,  and  the  mem- 
bers felt  that  the  eyes  of  the  public  were  upon  them.  For  a  time  all 
went  well,  and  the  Zemstvo  was  so  well  pleased  with  its  own  activity 
that  the  satirical  journals  compared  it  to  Narcissus  admiring  his  image 
reflected  in  the  pool.  But  when  the  charm  of  novelty  had  passed  and 
the  public  turned  its  attention  to  other  matters,  the  spasmodic  energy 
evaporated,  and  many  of  the  most  active  members  looked  about  for 
more  lucrative  employment.     Such  employment  was  easily  found,  for 


THE   ZEMSTVO,   OR   LOCAL   ADMLNISTRATLON.  263 

at  that  time  there  was  an  unusual  demand  for  able, energetic,  educated 
men.  Several  branches  of  the  civil  service  were  being  reorganized, 
and  railways,  banks,  and  joint-stock  companies  were  being  rapidly 
multiplied.  With  these  the  Zemstvo  had  great  difficulty  in  competing. 
It  could  not,  like  the  Imperial  service,  offer  pensions,  decorations,  and 
prospects  of  promotion,  nor  could  it  pay  such  large  salaries  as  the 
commercial  and  industrial  enterprises.  In  consequence  of  all  this,  the 
quality  of  the  executive  bureaus  deteriorated  at  the  same  time  as  the 
public  interest  in  the  institution  diminished. 

It  is  right  to  point  out  this  fact,  because  it  has  had  some  influence 
igi  producing  that  languor  from  which  the  Zemstvo  is  at  present 
suffering.  It  is  not,  however,  the  chief  cause.  The  languor  has 
appeared  among  the  deputies  and  the  public  quite  as  much  as  in  the 
executive  committees.  The  chief  cause  lies  in  the  fact  that  very  few 
people  feel  keenly  the  want  of  those  things  which  the  Zemstvo  is 
intended  to  supply.  Take,  for  instance,  a  matter  of  first  necessity. 
That  good  roads  are  necessary  for  the  development  of  the  national 
resources  is  a  principle  well  known  to  every  Russian  who  has  any  pre- 
tensions to  being  educated,  but  very  few  of  the  enlightened  deputies 
who  occasionally  enounce  the  principle  feel  the  necessity  of  having 
good  roads  in  their  own  district  in  the  same  sense  as  they  feel  the 
necessity  of  having  opportunities  for  card-playing.  The  one  is  a  theo- 
retical, the  other  a  practical  want.  When  the  landed  proprietors  learn 
to  keep  accounts  accurately,  and  discover  that  a  certain  amount  of 
money  spent  ou  roads  will  be  more  than  compensated  for  by  the 
diminution  in  the  cost  of  transport,  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the 
road  committees  become  vigorous  institutions.  The  same  remark  may 
be  api)lied  to  all  the  other  branches  of  the  local  self-government. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  essentially  unpractical  character  of  the 
institution,  we  cannot  do  better  than  describe  briefly  an  incident 
which  once  occurred  in  a  District  Assembly.  When  the  subject  of 
primary  schools  came  before  the  meeting,  an  influential  member 
started  up,  and  proposed  that  an  obligatory  system  of  education 
should  be  at  once  introduced  throughout  the  whole  D  istrict.  Strange 
to  say,  the  motion  was  very  nearly  carried,  though  all  the  members 
present  knew — or  at  least  might  have  known  if  they  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  inquire — that  the  actual  number  of  schools  would  have  to 
be  multiplied  twenty-fold,  and  that  the  local  rates  were  already  very 


264  THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR  LOCAL   ADMINISTRATION. 

heavy.  To  preserve  his  reputation  for  liberalism,  the  honorable  mem- 
ber further  proposed  that,  though  the  system  should  be  obligatory,  no 
fines,  punishments,  or  other  means  of  compulsion  should  be  employed. 
How  a  system  could  be  obligatory  without  using  some  means  of  com- 
pulsion, he  did  not  condescend  to  explain.  To  get  out  of  this  difficulty 
one  of  his  supporters  suggested  that  peasants  who  did  not  send  their 
children  to  school  should  be  excluded  from  serving  as  office-bearers  in 
the  Communes;  but  this  proposition  merely  created  a  laugh,  for  many 
deputies  knew  that  the  peasants  would  regard  this  supposed  punish- 
ment as  a  valuable  privilege.  And  whilst  this  discussion  about  the 
necessity  of  introducing  an  ideal  system  of  obligatory  education  was 
being  carried  on,  the  street  before  the  windows  of  the  room  was  covered 
with  a  stratum  of  mud  nearly  two  feet  in  depth !  The  other  streets 
were  in  a  similar  condition;  and  a  large  number  of  the  members 
always  arrived  late,  because  it  was  almost  impossible  to  come  on  foot, 
and  there  was  only  one  public  conveyance  in  the  town.  Many  mem- 
bers had,  fortunately,  their  private  conveyances,  but  even  in  these 
locomotion  was  by  no  means  easy.  One  day,  in  the  principal  thor- 
oughfare, a  member  had  his  tarantass  overturned,  and  he  himself  was 
thrown  into  the  mud ! 

We  might  describe  many  minor  defects  of  the  Zemstvo  in  its  present 
condition,  but  it  would  be  unfair  to  criticise  severely  a  young  institu- 
tion which  is  animated  with  good  intentions,  and  errs  chiefly  from 
inexperience.  With  all  its  defects  and  errors  it  is  infinitely  better 
than  the  institutions  which  it  replaced.  If  we  compare  it  with 
previous  attempts  to  create  local  self-government,  we  must  admit  that 
the  Kussians  have  made  great  progress  in  their  political  education. 
What  its  future  may  be  we  do  not  venture  to  predict.  We  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  it  will  outlive  its  present  state  of  lethargy, 
and  will  gradually  acquire  new,  healthy  vitality,  as  the  people  come 
to  feel  more  and  more  the  need  of  those  things  which  it  is  intended  to 
supply.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  possibly  die  of  inanition,  or 
be  swept  away  by  some  new  explosion  of  reforming  enthusiasm  before 
it  has  had  time  to  strike  deep  root.  Some  one  has  truly  said  that 
Time  shows  little  respect  to  Works  which  have  dispensed  with  its 
assistance;  and  nowhere  is  the  saying  more  frequently  exemplified 
than  in  Russia,  where  institutions  shoot  up  like  Jonah's  gourd,  and 
perish  as  rapidly,  without  leaving  a  trace  behind  them. 


THE  ZEMSTVO,    OR  LOCAL  ADMINISTRATION.  265 


1 


^'iifl 


266  ORIGIN  OF   THE    TURKS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  TUBES. 

According  to  the  historian  Abou'lgazi  Bahdur-Khan,  the  Turks 
are  descended  from  Turk,  the  eldest  son  of  Japhet,  and  of  the  same 
primitive  stock  as  the  Tartars  and  Mongols.  They  were  one  of  the 
five  nomadic  races  which  comprised  the  Turanian  family  of  men. 
Some  of  the  numerous  tribes  which  formed  this  race  have  been  erro- 
neously called  Tartars ;  but  the  latter  people  were  more  nearly  allied 
to  the  Mongolians  than  the  Turks. 

From  the  land  of  Tura,  the  Turkish  tribes  spread  out  as  far  as  the 
Lena  on  the  north  (where  they  are  still  represented  by  the  Yakuts), 
to  the  Black  Sea,  to  the  Oxus,  beyond  the  Caspian,  and  to  Asia 
Minor. 

They  were  known  to  the  Chinese  by  the  name  of  Hiong-nu  and  also 
Tu-kiu,  from  which  the  name  Turk  is  supposed  to  be  derived.  These 
Hiong-nu  formed  an  empire,  206  B.C.,  west  of  China;  and  after  nearly 
three  hundred  years  of  warfare  they  were  defeated  by  the  Chinese,  and 
split  up  into  a  Northern  and  Southern  empire. 

The  Southerns  afterwards  united  with  the  Chinese,  and  drove  their 
Northern  cousins  away  from  their  lands  amongst  the  Altai  mountains ; 
and  this  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the  first  inroad  of  the 
Turks  upon  Europe,  and  they  probably  represent  the  ancestors  of  the 
Huns  and  Avars. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  the  Mongols  and  Tungusians 
attacked  the  Southern  Turks,  and,  driving  them  from  their  territories, 
created  the  second  "Western  migration.  These  various  tribes  are  now 
to  be  found  in  the  Turcomans  east  and  west  of  the  Caspian ;  in  the 
Usbeks  of  Bokhara,  who  are  partly  Finn ;  in  the  Nogai,  north  of  the 
Black  Sea  and  west  of  the  Caspian ;  the  Bazianes  and  the  Kumiiks  of 
the  Caucasus ;  the  so-called  Tartars  of  Siberia ;  the  Bashkirs  of  Russia, 
who  arc  partly  Mongol;  the  Kirghis  of  Ka.shgir;  the  Youruks  and 
Osraanlis  of  Asia  Minor  and  Turkey  in  Europe. 

After  the  dispersion  of  the  Southern  Hiong-nu,  some  of  the  Turkish 
tribes  became  slaves  to  the  great  khan  of  the  Geougeu,  and  in  the 


ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS.  267 


Mohammed. 

golden  mountains  of  Altai  were  employed  as  forgers  of  iron  and 
makers  of  weapons  of  -svar.  It  is  from  these  men  that  the  Turks  of 
Europe  can  claim  their  origin.  From  being  makers  of  arms,  they 
soon  learned  to  use  them  with  such  terrible  effect  that,  under  their  first 
leader,  Bertezema,  they  cast  off  the  yoke  which  pressed  upon  them, 
and,  scattering  their  oppressors  to  the  winds,  established  their  royal 
camp  in  the  golden  mountains. 

The  advantages  of  their  nomadic  life  are  well  depicted  in  the  advice 
given  by  a  counselor  to  one  of  the  successors  of  Bertezema,  urging 
him  not  to  invade  China.  "The  Turks,"  he  said,  "are  not  equal  in 
number  to  one  hundredth  part  of  the  inhabitants  of  China,  K  we 
balance  their  power  and  elude  their  armies,  it  is  because  we  wander 
without  any  fixed  habitations,  in  the  exercise  of  war  and  hunting. 
Are  we  strong?  We  advance  and  conquer.  Are  we  feeble?  We 
retire  and  are  concealed.  Should  the  Turks  confine  themselves  within 
the  walls  of  cities,  the  loss  of  a  battle  would  be  the  destruction  of 
their  empire.  The  'bonzes'  preach  only  patience,  humility,  and  the 
renunciation  of  the  world.  Such,  O  King!  is  not  the  religion  of 
heroes." 

This  breathes  the  genuine  spirit  of  the  Turanian  race,  and  well 
exemplifies  the  roving  character  of  the  Turkish  Court. 


268  ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS. 

Their  religion,  prior  to  their  conversion  to  Mohammedanism,  was  a 
mixture  of  the  doctrines  of  Zoroaster  and  the  traditions  of  their  ances- 
tors. They  had  their  priests,  and  sung  rude  hymns  in  worship  of  the 
air,  fire,  water,  and  the  earth,  but  they  sacrificed  to  the  supreme  deity. 
As  might  be  expected,  their  laws  were  unwritten,  and  of  a  general 
character,  the  minor  details  being  probably  laid  down  by  the  order  of 
heads  of  tribes.  Yet  there  were  general  principles  which  they  all 
acknowledged,  and  which  were  rigorously  and  impartially  executed. 
Theft  was  punished  by  a  tenfold  restitution;  adultery,  treason  and 
murder,  with  death.  No  chastisement  was  considered  too  severe  for 
the  crime  of  cowardice.  We  have  here  all  the  elements  of  a  stern 
justice,  and  these  main  principles  of  morality,  added  to  the  free  and 
independent  life  of  warrior  shepherds,  were  the  cause  of  that  lofty  and 
chivalrous  character  which  always  attached  to  the  Turks  as  a  nation. 

The  rich  graziiigs  of  their  unbounded  pasture-lands  gave  an  almost 
unlimited  supply  of  horses,  and  one  of  their  armies  alone  numbered 
four  hundred  thousand  cavalry.  This  gives  some  idea  of  the  extraor- 
dinary power  of  these  tribes  in  former  days,  and  of  the  rapidity  with 
which  they  could  sweep  over  the  land  as  conquerors.  It  was,  in  fact,  a 
nomad  kingdom.  Their  great  rivals  were  the  Persians — rivals  in  arms 
and  rivals  in  race  and  customs,  and  Tura  and  Arya  here  stood  face 
to  face. 

The  wandering  life  of  the  Turks  was  fitted  for  reflection  rather  than 
study,  and  we  accordingly  find  them  mostly  ignorant  of  science,  while 
the  sedentary  habits  of  the  Persians  placed  them  among  the  first 
nations  of  the  world  for  scientific  learning. 

The  Turkish  Empire,  founded  by  Bertczema,  increased  under  his 
successors  until  it  burst  by  over-expansion,  and  was  divided  into  three 
kingdoms  ;  and  it  is  with  one  of  these,  which  held  its  sway  in  the 
Golden  Mountains  of  Altai,  that  we  have  now  to  deal.  The  Turanian 
and  Aryan  streams  of  emigration,  with  all  their  attendant  tribes,  were 
now  eddying  among  each  other  in  Scythia  and  the  Caucasus,  and  we 
are  told  by  Pliny  that  in  the  market  of  Dioscurias  no  less  than  one 
hundred  and  thirty  languages  were  spoken. 

This  was  literally  a  golden  age,  for  that  precious  metal  seemed  to 
form  the  material  for  all  the  furniture  of  the  great  Turk  Emperor  in 
his  nomad  court  of  the  Altai  Mountains ;  and  we  hear  of  the  great 
Disabul  sitting  in  a  chariot  of  gold,  supported  by  golden  peacocks,  for 


ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS.  269 

which  a  horse  was  always  kept  ready  harnessed,  in  order  that,  if  his 
Royal  Highness  wishes  to  move,  he  might  not  have  the  trouble  of 
walking. 

The  rich  mines  of  Trebizond  and  the  Caucasus  furnished  the  pre- 
cious metal,  which,  with  the  rich  silks  of  China,  added  to  the  luxury 
of  the  age. 

In  the  reign  of  Chosroes,  King  of  Persia,  the  Turks  and  the  Byzan- 
tine Empire  were  united  against  their  common  enemy,  but  the  more 
civilized  Romans  merely  made  use  of  the  Turks  as  a  temporary  and 
useful  weapon.  The  contempt  in  which  the  Turks  held  the  Byzantine 
intrigue  was  manifested  by  the  successor  to  Disabul,  when  in  the  sixth 
century  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  who  proposed  an  invasion  of  Persia, 
sent  ambassadors  to  salute  him. 

With  indignant  anger  the  haughty  monarch  turned  to  them  and 
said,  "You  see  my  ten  fingers?  You  Romans  speak  with  as  many 
tongues;  but  they  are  the  tongues  of  deceit  and  perjury.  To  me  you 
hold  one  language,  to  my  subjects  another,  and  the  nations  are  suc- 
cessively deluded  by  your  perfidious  eloquence ;  you  precipitate  your 
allies  into  war  and  danger;  you  enjoy  your  labors;  and  you  neglect 
your  benefactors.  Hasten  your  return,  and  inform  your  master  that  a 
Turk  is  incapable  of  uttering  or  forgiving  falsehood,  and  that  he  shall 
speedily  meet  the  punishment  he  deserves." 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  the  pro2:)het  Mohammed  ap- 
peared, and,  with  his  successors,  spread  his  religion  with  lightning 
rapidity  north,  south,  east  and  west,  until  it  rivaled  Christianity  in  its 
converts,  and  included  many  of  the  Turkish  tribes  in  the  number. 

There  were  several  dynasties  of  Mohammedan  Turks  before  the 
Ottomans  arose,  and  there  are  to  this  day  vast  nations  of  Turks,  some 
of  them  mere  savages,  who  have  never  embraced  Mohammedanism. 
It  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  Mohammedans  are  not  Turks, 
and  that  all  Turks  are  not  Ottomans.  The  Turks  with  whom  we  have 
to  do  are  those  Turks  who  learned  the  Mohammedan  religion  at  the 
hands  of  the  Saracens,  and  specially  with  that  body  of  them  Avhich 
made  their  way  into  Europe  and  founded  the  Ottoman  dominion  there. 
The  Turks  and  Saracens  first  came  to  have  dealings  with  one  another 
at  the  moment  when  the  Saracen  dominion  which  the  Turks  were  to 
supplant  was  at  the  height  of  its  power.  This  was  in  the  year  710, 
seventy-eight  years  after  the  death  of  Mohanmied.    It  was  in  that  year 


270  ORIGIN  OF   THE    TURKS. 

that  the  Saracens  passed  from  Africa  into  Spain,  and  made  the  begin- 
ning their  greatest  conquest  in  Europe.  In  the  same  year  they  first 
crossed  the  Oxus,  and  began  to  make  converts  and  subjects  among 
those  Turks  who  lived  betAveen  that  great  river  and  the  Jaxartes.  In 
the  next  year  the  conquest  of  Sind  gave  the  Saracen  dominion  the 
greatest  extent  that  it  ever  had.  This  last  possession  however,  was 
not  long  kept,  and  the  great  Mohammedan  conquests  in  India, 
conquests  with  which  we  have  now  no  concern,  did  not  begin  till  long 
afterwards.  But  it  is  worth  noticing  that  it  was  almost  at  the  same 
moment  that  the  Mohammedan  religion  and  the  Mohammedan  power 
made  their  way  into  India,  into  Western  Europe,  and  into  the  land 
which  was  then  the  land  of  the  Turks.  The  Caliph  or  successor  of 
the  Prophet,  the  temporal  and  spiritual  chief  of  all  Avho  profess  the 
Mohammedan  creed,  now  ruled  over  lands  washed  by  the  Atlantic 
and  over  lands  washed  by  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  word  Avhich  went 
forth  from  his  palace  at  Damascus  was  obeyed  on  the  Indus,  on  the 
Jaxartes,  and  on  the  Tagus. 

"While  the  whole  Mohammedan  world  was  thus  under  one  ruler,  the 
Christian  nations  were  divided  among  many  rulers.  But  there  were 
two  Christian  powers  which  stood  out  above  all  others.  The  Roman 
Empire  still  had  its  seat  at  Constantinople,  and  still  held,  though 
often  in  detached  pieces,  the  greater  part  of  the  European  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  The  Saracens  had  loj)ped  away  Syria,  Egypt, 
and  Africa ;  the  Slaves  had  pressed  into  the  southeastern  peninsula ; 
the  Bulgarians  had  settled  south  of  the  Danube,  and  the  Lombards 
had  conquered  the  greater  part  of  Italy.  Still  both  the  Old  and  the 
New  Rome  obeyed  the  one  Roman  Emperor,  and  the  Roman  Empire 
was  still  the  first  of  Christian  powers,  and  still  kept  the  chief  rule  of 
the  Mediterranean.  The  other  great  Christian  power  was  that  of  the 
Franks  in  Germany  and  Gaul,  the  poAver  which  was,  at  the  end  of  the 
century,  to  grow  into  a  new  Western  Empire  with  its  seat  at  the  Old 
Rome.  Thus  the  Roman  power  still  went  on,  only  cut  short  and 
modified  in  various  ways  by  the  coming  in  of  the  Teutons  in  the  West 
and  of  the  Slaves  in  the  East.  And  herein  comes  a  very  instructive 
parallel.  For,  as  soon  as  the  Saracens  began  to  conquer  and  convert 
the  Turks,  the  Turks  begin  to  play  a  part  in  the  history  of  the  Saracen 
dominion  in  Asia  which  is  much  like  the  part  which  Avas  played  in 
Europe  by  the  Teutons  toAvards  the  Western  Roman  Empire,  and  by 


ORIGIN  OF   THE    TURKS, 


271 


272  ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS. 

the  Slaves  towards  the  Eastern.  The  Turks  appear  under  the  Caliphs 
as  slaves,  as  subjects,  as  mercenaries,  as  practical  masters,  as  avowed 
sovereigns,  and  lastly,  in  the  case  of  the  Ottomans,  as  themselves 
claiming  the  powers  of  the  Caliphate.  The  dominions  of  the  Caliphs 
gradually  broke  up  into  various  states,  which  were  ruled  for  the  most 
part  by  Turkish  princes  who  left  a  merely  nominal  superiority  to  the 
Caliph.  It  is  not  our  business  here  to  go  through  all  of  them.  But 
one  must  be  mentioned,  that  out  of  which  the  Ottoman  dynasty  arose. 
This  was  the  Turkish  dynasty  of  the  house  of  Seljuk,  which  was  the 
greatest  power  in  Asia  in  the  eleventh  century.  Their  early  princes, 
Togrul  Beg,  Alp-Arslan,  and  Malek  Shah,  were  not  only  great  con- 
querors, but  great  rulers  after  the  Eastern  pattern.  They  had  many 
of  the  virtues  which  are  commonly  found  in  the  founders  of  dynasties 
and  their  immediate  successors.  The  Seljuk  Turks  pressed  their 
conquests  to  the  West,  and  so  had  more  to  do  with  Christians  than 
any  of  the  Turkish  dynasties  before  them  had.  And  it  should  care- 
fully be  noticed  that  it  is  from  this  time  that  a  more  special  and  crying 
oppression  of  the  Christians  under  Mohammedan  rule  begins.  The 
Turks,  even  these  earlier  and  better  Turks,  were  a  ruder  and  fiercer 
people  than  the  Saracens,  and  they  were  doubtless  full  of  the  zeal  of 
new  converts.  Doubtless,  even  under  the  Saracen  rule,  the  Christian 
subjects  of  the  Caliphs  had  always  been  oppressed  and  sometimes 
persecuted.  But  it  is  plain  that,  from  the  time  when  the  power  of  the 
Turks  began,  oppression  became  harder  and  persecution  more  common. 
It  was  the  increased  wrong-doings  of  the  Turks,  both  towards  the 
native  Christians  and  towards  pilgrims  from  the  West,  which  caused 
the  great  cry  for  help  which  led  to  the  Crusades.  There  were  no 
Crusades  as  long  as  the  Saracens  ruled ;  as  soon  as  the  Turks  came  in, 
the  Crusades  began. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century  began  those  long  con- 
tinued invasions  of  the  Eastern  Eoman  Empire  by  the  Turks  which 
led  in  the  end  to  the  foundation  of  the  Ottoman  power  in  Europe. 
There  is  no  greater  mistake  than  to  think  that  the  whole  time  during 
which  the  Eastern  Empire  went  on  at  Constantinople  was  a  time  of 
mere  weakness  and  decline.  A  power  which  was  beset  by  enemies  on 
all  sides,  in  a  way  in  which  hardly  any  other  power  ever  was,  could 
not  have  lived  on  for  so  many  ages,  it  could  not  have  been  for  a  great 
part  of  that  time  one  of  the  chief  powers  of  the  world,  if  it  had  been 


ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS.  273 

all  that  time  weak  and  declining.  The  Eastern  Emperors  are  often 
said  by  those  who  have  not  read  their  history  to  have  been  all  of  them 
weak  and  cowardly  men.  Instead  of  this,  many  of  them  were  great 
conquerors  and  rulers,  who  beat  back  their  enemies  on  every  side,  and 
made  great  conquests  in  their  turn.  The  great  feature  in  the  history 
of  the  Eastern  Empire  is  not  constant  weakness  and  decline,  but  the 
alternation  of  periods  of  weakness  and  decline  followed  by  periods  of 
recovered  strength.  In  one  century  provinces  are  lost;  in  another 
they  are  won  back  again,  and  new  provinces  added.  It  was  in  one  of 
these  periods  of  decline,  following  immediately  after  the  greatest  of 
all  periods  of  renewed  power,  that  the  Turks  and  Romans  first  came 
across  one  another.  We  say  Romans,  because  the  people  of  the 
Eastern  Empire  called  themselves  by  no  other  name,  and  the  nations 
of  Asia  knew  them  by  no  other  name.  The  Eastern  Empire  was 
indeed  fast  becoming  Greek,  as  the  Western  Empire  may  be  said  to 
have  already  become  German.  But  the  Emperors  and  their  subjects 
never  called  themselves  Greeks  at  any  time,  and  the  time  has  not  yet 
come  when  it  becomes  convenient  to  give  them  the  name. 

The  Turkish  invasion  of  the  Empire  came  just  after  a  time  of 
brilliant  conquest  and  prosperity  under  the  Macedonian  dynasty  of 
Emperors.  This  dynasty  began  in  the  ninth  century  and  went  on 
into  the  eleventh.  Under  it  the  Empire  gained  a  great  deal,  and  lost 
comparatively  little.  At  the  very  beginning  of  the  period,  in  878, 
the  Saracens  completed  the  conquest  of  Sicily,  which  had  been  going 
on  for  about  fifty  years.  A  hundred  years  later,  in  988,  Cherson,  an 
outlying  possession  in  the  Tauric  peninsula  or  Crimea,  was  taken  by 
the  Russian  Vladimir.  On  the  other  hand,  the  power  of  the  Empire 
was  vastly  increased  both  in  Europe  and  in  Asia.  The  dominions  of 
the  Emperors  in  Southern  Italy  were  increased ;  Crete  was  won  back ; 
the  great  Bulgarian  kingdom  was  conquered,  and  the  other  Slavonic 
states  in  the  Eastern  peninsula  became  either  subject  or  tributary  to 
the  Empire.  In  Asia  large  conquests,  including  Antioch,  were  made 
from  the  Saracens;  Armenia  was  annexed,  and  the  power  of  the 
Empire  was  extended  along  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Euxine.  The 
greatest  conquests  of  all  were  made  in  the  reign  of  Basil  the  Second, 
called  the  Slayer  of  the  Bulgarians,  who  reigned  from  976  to  1025. 
A  dominion  of  this  kind,  which  depends  on  one  man,  is  something  like 
a  watch,  which,  if  wound  up,  wiU  go  for  a  while  by  itself,  but  will 
18 


274 


ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS. 


presently  go  down,  if  it  is  not  wound  up  again.  So,  as  after  Basil  no 
great  Emperor  reigned  for  some  while,  the  Empire  began  again  to  fall 
back,  not  at  once,  but  within 
a  few  years.  About  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eleventh  century 
came  one  of  the  periods  of 
decline,  and  the  Empire  was 
cut  short  by  the  Normans 
in  Italy  and  by  the  Turks 
in  Asia.  The  Seljuk  Sultan 
Alp-Arslan  invaded  Asia  Mi- 
nor, a  land  which  the  Saracens 
had  often  ravaged,  but  which 
they  had  never  conquered. 
He  overthrew  the  Emperor 
Romanos  in  battle,  and  treated 
him  personally  with  marked 
generosity.  This  Avas  in  1071, 
and  from  this  time  dates  the 
establishment  of  the  Turks, 
as  distinguished  from  the 
Saracens,  in  the  lands  which 
had  been  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  All  the  inland  part 
of  the  peninsula  was  now 
occupied  by  the  Turks,  and, 
when  in  1092  the  great  Seljuk 
dominion  was  broken  up,  the 


A  Turkish  Mosque. 


city  of  Nikaia  or  Nice,  the  place  of  the  famous  council,  became  the 
capital  of  a  Turkish  dynasty.  The  map  will  show  how  near  this 
brought  the  Turks  to  Constantinople.  And  it  might  hardly  have 
been  thought  that  three  hundred  and  sixty  years  would  pass  before 
the  Turks  entered  the  imperial  city.  But,  as  ruling  over  a  land 
conquered  from  the  Roman  Empire,  the  Sultans  who  reigned  at  Nikaia 
called  themselves  Sultans  of  Bourn,  that  is  of  Borne.  It  was  this  great 
advance  of  the  power  of  the  Seljuk  Turks  which  caused  the  Christian 
nations  of  the  West  to  come  to  the  help  of  their  brethren  in  the  East. 
The  history  of  the  Crusades  concerns  us  here  only  so  far  as,  by 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   TURKS. 


275 


A  Mohammedan  Mosque. 


affecting  both  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire  and  the  power  of  the  Seljuk 
Turks,  they  did  in  the  end  pave  the  way  for  the  advance  of  the  Otto- 
mans. The  effect  of  the  first  Crusade  was  to  drive  back  the  Turks 
from  their  position  at  Nikaia  which  was  so  threatening  to  the  Empire. 
The  Emperors  who  now  reigned,  those  of  the  house  of  Komnenos, 
were  for  the  most  part  either  wise  statesmen  or  good  soldiers.  Under 
their  reigns  therefore  came  another  period  of  renewed  strength,  though 
the  Empire  never  again  became  what  it  had  been  under  the  Macedo- 
nians. We  are  most  concerned  with  their  advance  in  Asia.  There, 
following  in  the  wake  of  the  Crusaders,  they  were  able  to  win  back  a 


276  ORIGIN  OF  THE   TURKS. 

great  part  of  the  land,  and  the  capital  of  the  Seljuk  Sultans  fell  back 
from  Nikaia  to  Ikonion.  The  dominion  of  these  Sultans  gradually 
broke  up  after  the  usual  manner  of  Asiatic  powers,  and  so  paved  the 
way  for  the  coming  of  a  mightier  power  of  their  own  race.  But 
meanwhile  events  were  happening  in  Europe  which  equally  payed  the 
way  for  the  growth  of  new  powers  there.  After  the  time  of  revival 
under  the  Komnenian  Emperors  came  another  time  of  decline,  in  the 
latter  years  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  Bulgarians  threw  off  the 
Roman  yoke  and  formed  a  restored  Bulgarian  kingdom,  which  cut  the 
Empire  short  to  the  northwest.  At  the  other  end  of  the  Empire,  a 
separate  Emperor  set  himself  up  in  the  isle  of  Cyprus.  A  time  of 
utter  weakness  and  disunion  had  come,  when  it  seemed  as  if  the 
Empire  must  fall  altogether  before  any  vigorous  enemy. 

And  so  in  some  sort  it  happened.  A  blow  presently  came  which 
may  be  looked  on  as  really  the  ending  of  the  old  Roman  Empire  of 
the  East.  In  1204  Constantinople  was  taken  by  a  band  of  Crusaders 
who  had  turned  away  from  the  warfare  to  which  they  were  bound 
against  the  Mohammedans  in  Asia,  to  overthrow  the  eastern  bulwark 
of  Christendom  in  Europe.  Now  begins  the  dominion  of  the  Franks 
or  Latins  in  Eastern  Europe.  The  Christians  of  the  West  were  known 
as  Latins,  as  belonging  to  the  Western  or  Latin  Church,  which  ac- 
knowledged the  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome.  And  they  were 
called  Franks,  as  Western  Europeans  are  called  in  the  East  to  this 
day,  because  most  of  them  came  from  countries  where  the  French 
tongue  was  spoken.  But  along  with  the  French-speaking  Crusaders 
came  the  Venetians,  who  had  a  great  trade  in  the  East,  and  who  had 
already  begun  to  establish  their  power  in  Dalmatia.  Constantinople 
was  taken,  and  Baldwin,  Count  of  Flanders,  was  set  up  as  a  Latin 
Emperor.  So  much  of  Romania,  as  the  Eastern  Empire  was  called, 
as  the  Franks  and  Venetians  could  get  hold  of  was  parcelled  out 
among  the  conquerors.  But  they  never  conquered  the  whole,  and 
Greek  princes  kept  several  parts  of  the  Empire.  Thus  what  really 
happened  was  that  the  Empire  was  split  up  into  a  number  of  small 
states,  Greek  and  Frank.  We  now  cannot  help  using  the  word  Greek ; 
for,  after  the  loss  of  Bulgaria,  the  Empire  was  wholly  confined  to 
Greek-speaking  people,  and  we  need  some  name  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  Franks  or  Latins.  But  they  still  called  themselves  Romans; 
and  it  is  strange,  in  reading  the  Greek  writers,  to  hear  of  wars  between 


ORIGIN  OF  THE    TURKS.  277 

the  Romans  and  the  Latins,  as  if  we  had  gone  back  to  the  early  days 
of  the  Old  Rome  and  the  Thirty  Cities  of  Latium.  Latin  Emperors 
reigned  at  Constantinople  for  nearly  sixty  years.  For  a  few  years 
there  was  a  Latin  kingdom  of  Thessalonica,  and  there  were  Latin 
princes  at  Athens  and  in  Peloponnesos,  while  the  commonwealth  of 
Venice  kept  the  great  islands  of  Corfu  and  Crete,  and  allowed  Venetian 
families  to  establish  themselves  as  rulers  in  several  of  the  islands  of 
the  ^gsean.  On  the  other  hand,  Greek  princes  reigned  in  Epeiros, 
and  two  Greek  Empires  were  established  in  Asia.  One  had  its  seat  at 
Trebizond  on  the  southeast  coast  of  the  Euxine,  while  the  other  had 
its  seat  at  Nikaia,  the  first  capital  of  the  Turkish  Sultans  of  Roum. 
This  last  set  of  Emperors  gradually  won  back  a  considerable  territory 
both  in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  at  last,  in  1261,  they  won  back  Con- 
stantinople from  the  Latins.  Thus  the  Eastern  Roman  Empire  in 
some  sort  began  afresh,  though  with  much  smaller  territory  and  power 
than  it  had  before  the  Latin  conquest.  It  was  threatened  on  all  sides 
by  Bulgarians,  Servians,  Latins,  and  Turks ;  and  no  great  Emperors 
reigned  in  this  last  stage  of  the  Empire.  Yet,  even  in  these  last  days, 
there  was  once  more  something  of  a  revival,  and  the  Emperors 
gradually  won  back  nearly  the  whole  of  all  Peloponnesos. 

Thus  a  way  was  opened  for  a  new  race  of  conquerors  both  in  Europe 
and  Asia,  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  power  of  the  old  Emperors  who, 
even  as  late  as  the  eleventh  century,  had  reigned  at  once  in  Italy  and 
in  Armenia.  Instead  of  the  old  Eastern  Empire,  there  was  now  only 
a  crowd  of  states,  two  of  which,  at  Constantinople  and  Trebizond,  kept 
on  the  titles  of  the  old  Empire.  None  of  them  were  very  great,  and 
most  of  them  at  enmity  with  one  another.  The  thirteenth  century 
too,  which  saw  the  break-up  of  the  Empire  in  Europe,  saw  also  the 
break-up  of  the  older  Mohammedan  powers  in  Asia  and  the  beginning 
of  the  last  and  the  most  abiding  of  all.  This  was,  in  fact,  the  time 
when  all  the  powers  of  Europe  and  Asia  seemed  to  be  putting  on  new 
shapes.  In  the  thirteenth  century  the  Western  Empire  in  some  sort 
came  to  an  end  as  well  as  the  Eastern.  For  after  Frederick  the  Second 
the  Emperors  maintained  no  abiding  power  in  Italy.  In  Spain  the 
Mohammedan  power,  which  had  once  held  nearly  the  whole  peninsula, 
was  shut  up  within  the  narrow  bounds  of  the  kingdom  of  Granada. 
Castile  now  took  its  place  as  the  leading  power  of  Spain,  and  France 
was  likewise  established  as  the  ruling  power  of  Gaul.   And,  while  great 


278 


ORIGIN  OF  THE   TURKS. 


Giristian  powers  were  thus  established  in  the  western  lands  which  had 
been  held  by  the  Mohammedans,  the  Caliphate  of  Bagdad  itself  was 
overthrown  by  conquerors  from  the  further  lands  of  Asia.  This  event, 
which  seemed  the  most  crushing  blow  of  all,  was  part  of  a  chain  of 
events  which  brought  on  the  stage  a  Mohammedan  power  more  terrible 
than  all  that  had  gone  before  it.  We  have  now  come  to  the  time  of 
the  first  appearance  of  the  Ottoman  Turks. 


MubQUE  AND   TuMU   OF   SULTAN   MOHAMMED. 


THE    OTTOMAN  TURKS.  279 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

The  necessities  of  the  Seljukian  Turks  in  Asia  Minor  had  reached 
their  far  distant  and  now  comparatively  ancient  home  in  Khorassan, 
where  there  still  lived  a  large  tribe  of  this  renowned  race  under  the 
name  of  Oghouz  Turks. 

Actuated,  it  may  be,  by  sympathy,  or  it  may  be  by  pressure  from 
Tartar  foes,  Soliman  Shah,  chief  of  the  Oghouz  Turks,  broke,  like  a 
rift  from  a  river-bank,  from  his  native  land,  and  with  four  hundred 
families  of  his  tribe,  headed  by  their  male  warriors,  he  wended  his 
way  towards  Asia  Minor,  to  mingle  with  his  kinsfolk  under  the  Sultan 
Aladdin  of  Iconium. 

Eough  must  have  been  the  way,  and  hard  the  fare  of  these  immi- 
grant families,  as  they  tramped  over  mountain  and  plain,  through 
river  and  marsh,  over  the  thousands  of  miles  which  separated  them 
from  their  destination.  Their  chief,  Soliman  Shah,  was  drowned  in 
the  passage  of  the  river  Euphrates ;  but  his  son  Ertoghrul,  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  future  Ottoman  power,  immediately  placed  himself  at 
their  head.  For  weeks  and  months  they  wandered,  until  at  last  they 
approached  their  future  home.  One  day,  Ertoghrul,  with  his  brave 
chiefs  leading  the  van,  had  just  crested  a  tedious  hill,  and  were 
descending  to  the  valley  below,  when  they  suddenly  found  themselves 
in  the  presence  of  two  contending  armies.  Ertoghrul  quickly  formed 
his  men  in  order  of  battle,  and  anxiously  watched  the  fight.  "  Which 
side  shall  we  take  ?"  asked  his  officers.  "  Yonder  is  the  weakest,"  said 
Ertoghrul ;  "  charge,  and  onward  to  their  rescue."  Ertoghrul  dis- 
covered that  the  side  whose  cause  he  had  espoused  and  won,  was  no 
other  than  that  of  Sultan  Aladdin  himself.  He  was  rewarded  by  a 
grant  of  lands  near  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  and  those  lands,  step  by 
step,  grew  into  the  Ottoman  Empire.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Osman,  or  Othman,  A.D.  1299,  a  born  military  genius,  and  the  founder 
of  the  Turkish  race  in  Europe.  From  him  comes  their  name  of  0th- 
mans,  or  Ottomans,  or  Osmanlis.  Warriors  flocked  to  the  new  standard 
and  Othman  became  the  most  powerful  prince  in  Western  Asia. 


280  THE    OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

One  characteristic  feature  of  Ottoman  history  may  strike  us  from 
the  very  beginning.  The  house  of  Othman  arose  on  the  ruins  of  the 
house  of  Seljuk ;  but  whatever  our  own  day  may  be  destined  to  see,  no 
other  power  has  yet  arisen  on  the  ruins  of  the  house  of  Othman.  No 
other  Eastern  power  has  had  such  an  abiding  life.  The  Bagdad 
Caliphate  lasted  as  long  by  mere  reckoning  of  years ;  but  for  many 
ages  the  Bagdad  Caliphate  was  a  mere  shadow.  Other  Eastern  powers 
have  commonly  broken  in  pieces  after  a  few  generations.  The  Otto- 
man power  has  lasted  for  six  hundred  years ;  and,  stranger  than  all, 
when  it  seemed  for  a  moment  to  be  going  the  way  of  other  Eastern 
dynasties,  when  the  power  of  the  Ottoman  Turk  seemed  to  be  breaking 
in  pieces  as  the  power  of  the  Seljuk  Turk  had  broken  in  pieces  before 
him,  the  scattered  fragments  were  again  joined  together,  and  the  work 
of  conquest  and  rule  again  began.  But  by  means  of  this  very  abiding 
life,  by  prolonging  the  rule  of  a  barbarian  power  in  the  midst  of 
modern  civilization,  the  rule  of  the  Ottoman  has  shown  us,  in  a  way  in 
•which  the  the  earlier  Turkish  dynasties  could  not  show  us,  what  a 
power  of  this  kind  comes  to  in  the  days  of  its  long  decay.  An  Eastern 
dynasty,  above  all  a  Mohammedan  dynasty,  is  great  and  glorious 
arcording  to  an  Eastern  standard  as  long  as  it  remains  a  conquering 
dynasty.  The  Ottoman  Turks  remained  a  conquering  dynasty  longer 
than  any  other.  Their  power  was  thus  so  firmly  established  that  it 
has  been  able  to  outlive  the  causes  which  broke  up  earlier  dynasties. 
But,  by  having  its  being  thus  prolonged,  it  has  lived  on  to  give  an 
example  of  corruption  and  evil  of  every  kind  for  which  it  would  be 
hard  to  find  a  parallel  among  the  worst  of  earlier  dynasties. 

The  Ottoman  Turks  have  never  been,  in  any  strict  sense,  a  nation. 
They  were  in  their  beginning  a  wandering  horde,  and  even  in  the 
time  of  their  greatest  dominion,  they  kept  up  much  of  the  character 
of  a  wandering  horde.  They  have  nowhere  really  become  the  people 
of  the  land.  AVhere  they  have  not  borne  rule  over  Christians,  they 
have  borne  rule  over  other  Mohammedans,  and  they  have  often 
oppressed  them  nearly  as  much,  though  not  quite  in  the  same  way,  as 
they  have  oppressed  their  Christian  subjects.  They  have  been,  we  may 
say,  a  ruling  order,  a  body  ready  to  admit  and  promote  any  one  of 
any  nation  who  chose  to  join  them,  provided  of  course  that  he  accepted 
the  Mohammedan  religion.  In  this  has  lain  their  strength  and  their 
greatness ;  but  it  has  been  throughout,  not  the  greatness  of  a  nation, 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS. 


281 


282  THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

but  the  greatness  of  a  conquering  army,  bearing  rule  over  otter 
nations.  Stripping  conquest  and  forced  dominion  of  the  false  glory 
which  surrounds  them,  we  may  say  that  the  Ottomans  began  as  a 
band  of  robbers,  and  that  they  have  gone  on  as  a  band  of  robbers  ever 
since.  To  a  great  part  of  their  history,  especially  to  their  position  in 
our  own  times,  that  description  would  apply  in  its  fullness.  But  it 
would  not  be  wholly  fair  to  speak  in  this  way  of  the  early  Ottomans. 
The  settled  and  self-styled  civilized  Turk  is  really  more  of  a  robber 
than  the  wandering  barbarian  under  whom  his  power  began.  When 
conquest  simply  means  transfer  from  one  despot  to  another,  the  con- 
quered often  gain  rather  than  lose.  The  rule  of  the  conquering  despot 
is  stronger  than  that  of  the  despot  whom  he  conquers,  and  a  strong 
despot  usually  comes  nearer  to  a  good  ruler  than  a  weak  one.  That 
is  to  say,  he  does  a  kind  of  justice  in  his  dominions.  However  great 
may  be  his  own  personal  crimes  and  oppressions,  he  puts  some  check 
on  the  crimes  and  oppressions  of  others.  As  long,  therefore,  as  the  Otto- 
man rulers  were  strong,  as  long  as  they  were  conquerors,  there  was  a 
good  side  to  their  rule.  Most  of  the  Sultans  were  stained  with  horrible 
crimes  in  their  own  persons ;  but  most  of  the  early  Sultans  had  many 
of  the  virtues  of  rulers  and  conquerors.  It  was  when  their  power 
began  to  decay  that  the  blackest  side  of  their  rule  came  out.  The 
oppression  of  the  Sultans  themselves  became  greater.  To  oppression 
was  added  the  foulest  corruption,  and  the  weak  Sultans  were  not  able, 
as  the  strong  ones  had  been,  to  keep  their  own  servants  in  some  kind 
of  order.  In  short,  the  Ottoman  rulers  were  the  longest,  and  the  early 
Ottoman  rulers  were  the  greatest  of  all  lines  of  Eastern  despots. 
Because  of  their  greatness,  their  power  has  been  more  long-lived  than 
any  other.  Because  it  has  been  more  long-lived,  it  has  in  the  end 
become  worse  than  any  other. 

We  must  be  prepared  then  from  the  beginning  to  find  in  the 
Ottoman  rulers  much  that  is  utterly  repulsive  to  our  moral  standard, 
much  that  is  cruel,  much  that  is  foul,  joined  with  much  that  may 
fairly  be  called  great.  They  were  in  any  case  great  soldiers.  If  we 
may  apply  the  name  statesmanship  to  carrying  out  any  kind  of 
purpose,  good  or  bad,  they  were  also  great  statesmen.  And  it  is  not 
till  they  have  passed  into  Europe  that  their  worst  side  distinctly 
prevails.  And  he  who  was  at  once  the  greatest  of  all  and  the  worst 
of  all,  was  he  who  fixed  his  throne  in  Constantinople.    As  Ions  as  they 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS.  .283 

remained  in  Asia,  the  Ottomans  might  pass  for  one  among  many 
Asiatic  dynasties.  It  is  their  establishment  in  Europe  which  gave 
them  their  special  character. 

It  was  with  Othman's  son  Orkhan,  who  succeeded  him  in  1326,  that 
the  Ottoman  Empire  really  begins.  He  threw  off  his  nominal  allegiance 
to  the  Sultan,  though  he  still  bore  only  the  title  of  Emir.  And  in 
his  time  the  Ottomans  first  made  good  their  footing  in  Europe.  But 
while  his  dominion  was  still  only  Asiatic,  Orkhan  began  one  insti- 
tution which  did  more  than  anything  else  firmly  to  establish  the 
Ottoman  power.  This  was  the  institution  of  the  tribute  children. 
By  the  law  of  Mohammed,  as  we  have  seen,  the  unbeliever  is  allowed 
to  purchase  life,  property,  and  the  exercise  of  his  religion,  by  the  pay- 
ment of  tribute.  Earlier  Mohammedan  rulers  had  been  satisfied  with 
tribute  in  the  ordinary  sense.  Orkhan  first  demanded  a  tribute  of 
children.  The  deepest  wrongs,  that  which  other  tyrants  did  as  an 
occasional  outrage,  thus  became  under  the  Ottomans  a  settled  law.  A 
fixed  proportion  of  the  strongest  and  most  promising  boys  among  the 
conquered  Christian  nations  were  carried  ofl*  for  the  service  of  the 
Ottoman  princes.  They  were  brought  up  in  the  Mohammedan  faith, 
and  were  employed  in  civil  or  military  functions,  according  to  their 
capacity.  Out  of  them  was  formed  the  famous  force  of  the  Janissaries, 
the  new  soldiers,  who,  for  three  centuries,  as  long  as  they  were  levied 
in  this  way,  formed  the  strength  of  the  Ottoman  armies.  These  chil- 
dren, torn  from  their  homes  and  cut  off  from  every  domestic  and 
national  tie,  knew  only  the  religion  and  the  service  into  which  they 
were  forced,  and  formed  a  body  of  troops  such  as  no  other  power. 
Christian  or  Mohammedan,  could  command.  In  this  way  the  strength 
of  the  conquered  nations  was  turned  against  themselves.  They  could 
not  throw  off  the  yoke  because  those  among  them  who  were  their 
natural  leaders  were  pressed  into  the  service  of  their  enemies.  It  was 
not  till  the  practice  of  levying  the  tribute  on  children  was  discontinued 
that  the  conquered  nations  showed  any  power  to  stir.  While  the  force 
founded  by  Orkhan  lasted  in  its  first  shape,  the  Ottoman  armies  were 
irresistible.  But  all  this  shows  how  far  the  Ottomans  were  from 
being  a  national  power.  Their  victories  were  won  by  soldiers  who 
were  really  of  the  blood  of  the  Greeks,  Slaves,  and  other  conquered 
nations.  In  the  same  way,  while  the  Ottoman  power  was  strongest, 
the  chief  posts  of  the  Empire,  civil  and  military,  were  constantly  held. 


284  THE  OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

not  by  native  Turks,  but  by  Christian  renegades  of  all  nations.  The 
Ottoman  power  in  short  was  the  power,  not  of  a  nation,  but  simply  of 
an  army.  The  Ottomans  began,  and  they  have  gone  on  ever  since,  as 
an  army  of  occupation  in  the  lands  of  other  nations. 

By  the  end  of  Orkhan's  reign  the  Ottoman  power  was  fully  estab- 
lished in  Asia  Minor.  Its  Emirs  had  spread  their  power  over  all  the 
other  Turkish  settlements,  and  nothing  was  left  to  the  Christians  but  a 
few  towns,  chiefly  on  the  coast.  Above  all,  Philadelphia  and  Phokaia 
long  defended  themselves  gallantly  after  everything  else  was  lost.  The 
chief  Christian  power  in  Asia  was  now  no  longer  the  Koman  or  Greek 
Emperor  at  Constantinople,  but  the  more  distant  Emperor  at  Trebi- 
zond.  Besides  their  possessions  on  the  south  coast  of  the  Euxine, 
these  Emperors  also  held  the  old  territories  of  the  Empire  in  the 
Tauric  Chersonesos  or  Crimea.  The  Turks  had  now  the  whole  inland 
part  of  Asia  Minor.  And  this  inland  part  of  Asia  Minor  is  the  only 
part  of  the  Ottoman  dominions  where  any  Turks  are  really  the  people 
of  the  laud.  The  old  Christian  population  has  been  quite  displaced, 
and  Anadol  or  Anatolia,  the  land  of  the  East,  is  really  a  Turkish 
land.  Yet  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  an  Ottoman  land.  There  the 
ruling  body  have  borne  sway  over  the  descendants  of  the  old  Seljuk 
Turks.  The  Ottomans  in  short  are  strangers  everywhere.  They  are 
strangers  bearing  rule  over  other  nations,  over  Mohammedans  in  Asia, 
over  Christians  in  Europe. 

The  Ottoman  rule  over  Christians  in  Europe  began  in  the  last  years 
of  Orkhan.  The  state  of  Southeastern  Europe  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury was  very  favorable  for  the  purposes  of  the  Turks.  We  have  seen 
how  utterly  the  old  Empire  was  broken  up,  and  how  the  Greek- 
speaking  lands  were  divided  among  a  crowd  of  states,  Greek  and 
Frank.  A  new  power  had  lately  arisen  in  the  ^Egsean  through  the 
occupation  of  Khodes  and  some  of  the  neighboring  islands  by  the 
Knights  of  St.  John.  A  military  order  is  not  well  fitted  for  gov- 
erning its  dominions;  but  no  power  can  be  better  fitted  for  defending 
them,  and  the  Knights  of  St.  John  at  Rhodes  did  great  things  against 
the  Turks.  The  power  of  the  Emperors  at  Constantinople,  cut  short 
by  the  Turks  in  Asia,  was  cut  short  by  the  Bulgarians  in  Europe.  It 
was  only  in  Peloponnfeos  that  they  advanced  at  the  cost  of  the  Latins. 
Just  at  the  time  before  the  Turks  crossed  into  Europe,  a  new  power 
had  arisen,  or  rather  an  old  power  had  grown  to  a  much  greater  place 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS. 


285 


ippiiprt'llliipir     ** 


286  THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

than  it  held  before.  Stephen  Dushan,  King  of  Servia,  who  took  the 
title  of  Emperor,  had  established  a  great  dominion  which  took  in  most 
part  of  Macedonia,  Albania,  and  Northern  Greece.  But  the  Greek 
Emperors  kept  Constantinople  and  the  lands  round  about  it,  with 
detached  parts  of  Macedonia  and  Greece,  including  specially  the  great 
city  of  Thessalonica.  Had  the  Servian  Emperor  been  able  to  win 
Constantinople,  a  power  would  have  been  formed  which  might  have 
been  able  to  withstand  the  Turks.  Servia  would  have  been  the  body, 
and  Constantinople  the  head.  As  it  was,  the  Turks  found  in  Servia  a 
body  without  a  head,  and  in  Constantinople  a  head  without  a  body. 
The  Servian  Empire  broke  up  on  the  death  of  its  great  king,  and  the 
Greeks  were  divided  by  civil  wars.  Thus,  instead  of  Servians  and 
Greeks  together  presenting  a  strong  front  to  the  Turks,  the  Turks  were 
able  to  swallow  up  Greeks,  Servians,  and  all  the  other  nations,  bit 
by  bit. 

The  Ottomans  did  not  make  their  first  appearance  in  Europe  as 
avowed  conquerors.  They  appeared,  sometimes  as  momentary  rava- 
gers,  sometimes  as  mercenaries  in  the  Imperial  service  or  as  allies  of 
some  of  the  contending  parties  in  the  Empire.  Thus  in  1346  the 
Emperor  John  Kantakouzenos  called  in  the  Turks  to  help  him  in 
civil  war.  From  this  time  we  may  date  their  lasting  presence  in 
Europe,  though  they  did  not  hold  any  permanent  possessions  there  till 
in  1356  they  seized  Kallipolis  in  the  Thracian  Chersonesos.  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  Ottoman  dominion  in  Europe.  From  this  time 
they  advanced  bit  by  bit,  taking  towns  and  provinces  from  the  Empire 
and  conquering  the  kingdoms  beyond  the  Empire,  so  that  Constanti- 
nople was  quite  hemmed  in.  But  the  Imperial  city  itself  was  not 
taken  till  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  the  first  Turkish  settlement  in 
Europe.  It  must  always  be  remembered  that  the  Turks  overcame 
Servia  and  Bulgaria  long  before  they  won  Thessalonica,  Constan- 
tinople, and  Peloponnesos.  Their  first  conquests  gathered  threaten- 
ingly round  Constantinople ;  but  they  did  not  as  yet  actually  attack 
it.  Nor  did  they  always  at  once  incorporate  the  lands  which  they 
subdued  with  their  immediate  dominions.  In  most  of  the  lands  of 
which  the  Turks  got  possession,  the  process  of  conquest  shows  three 
stages.  There  is,  first,  mere  ravage  for  the  sake  of  plunder,  and  to 
weaken  the  land  which  was  ravaged.  Then  the  land  is  commonly 
brought  under  tribute  or  some  other  form  of  subjection,  without  being 


THE    OTTOMAN  TURKS.  287 

made  a  part  of  the  Sultan's  immediate  dominions.  Lastly,  the  land 
which  is  already  practically  conquered  becomes  a  mere  Ottoman  pro- 
vince. In  this  way  it  is  worth  noticing  that,  as  we  shall  see  further 
on,  a  large  part  of  the  European  dominions  of  the  Turk,  though  they 
were  subdued  long  before  the  taking  of  Constantinople,  were  allowed 
to  keep  on  some  shadow  of  separate  being  under  tributary  princes  till 
after  Constantmople  was  taken. 

The  first  lasting  settlement  of  the  Turks  on  European  ground  was 
made,  as  we  have  seen,  while  Orkhan  still  reigned.  But  it  was  in  the 
reign  of  i\Iurad  L,  who  succeeded  Orkhan  in  1359,  that  the  first  settle- 
ment at  Kallipolis  grew  into  a  compact  European  power.  In  a  very 
few  years  from  their  first  occupation  of  European  territory,  the  Turks 
had  altogether  hemmed  in  what  was  left  of  the  Empire.  As  early  as 
1361  Murad  took  Adrianople,  which  became  the  European  capital  of 
the  Ottomans  till  they  took  Constantinople.  Nothing  was  now  left  to 
the  Empire  but  the  part  of  Thrace  just  around  Constantinople,  with 
some  of  the  cities  on  the  Euxine,  together  with  the  outlying  possessions 
which  the  Emperors  still  kept  in  Macedonia  and  Greece.  Among  them 
were  the  greater  part  of  Peloponnesos  and  the  Chalkidian  peninsula 
with  Thessalonica.  In  Asia  all  that  remained  to  the  Empire  was  a 
little  strip  of  land  just  opposite  Constantinople,  and  the  two  cities  of 
Philadelphia  and  Phokaia,  which  might  now  almost  be  looked  on  as 
allied  commonwealths  rather  than  as  parts  of  the  Empire.  But 
Murad  not  only  cut  the  Empire  short,  he  also  carried  his  arms  into 
the  Slavonic  lands  to  the  north.  They  lay  as  temptingly  open  to  con- 
quest as  the  Greek  lands.  The  power  of  Servia  went  down  at  once 
after  the  death  of  Stephen  Dushan,  and  Bulgaria  a  few  years  later 
was  split  up  into  three  separate  kingdoms.  Murad's  first  important 
conquest  in  this  direction  was  the  taking  of  Philippopolis  in  1363. 
That  city  had  changed  masters  several  times,  but  it  was  then  Bulga- 
rian. Bulgaria  just  now,  besides  her  own  divisions,  had  wars  with 
Hungary  to  the  north  and  with  the  Empire  to  the  south.  Yet  amid 
all  this  confusion,  several  powers  did  unite  to  withstand  the  Turks ; 
and  it  was  only  gradually,  and  after  several  battles,  that  either  Servia 
or  Bulgaria  was  conquered.  It  seems  to  have  been  about  1371  that 
the  chief  Bulgarian  kingdom,  that  of  Trnovo,  became  tributary.  But 
while  Servia  and  Bulgaria  were  breaking  in  pieces,  Bosnia  to  the 
northwest  of  them,  which  lay   further  away  from   the   Turks,  was 


THE    OTTOMAN  TURKS. 


A  Turkish  Bank-note. 


growing  in  power.  A  great  Slave  confederation  was  formed  under  the 
Bosnian  King  Stephen,  and  Bosnians,  Croats,  and  Servians  for  a  little 
while  won  some  successes  over  the  Turks.  But  at  last  a  great  con- 
federate army,  Bosnian,   Servian,  Bulgarian,   and   Wallachian,   was 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS.  289 

utterly  defeated  by  the  Turks  at  Cassova  in  1389.  Munad  himself 
was  killed,  not  in  the  battle,  but  by  a  Servian  who  pretended  to  desert. 
But  he  Avas  at  once  succeeded  by  his  son  Bajazet,  who  reaped  the  fruits 
of  the  victory.  In  the  course  of  two  or  three  years  after  the  battle, 
Servia  and  Wallachia  became  tributary,  and  the  greater  part  of  Bul- 
garia was  altogether  conquered. 

It  is  from  the  battle  of  Cassova  that  the  Servians,  and  the  Southern 
Slaves  generally,  date  the  fall  of  their  independence.  Bosnia,  in  its 
corner,  still  remained  but  little  touched;  it  was  ravaged,  but  not  yet 
conquered.  But  all  the  lands  which  had  made  up  the  great  Servian 
and  Bulgarian  kingdoms  of  former  times  were  now  either  altogether 
conquered  by  the  Turk,  or  made  tributary  to  him,  or  else  driven  to 
maintain  their  independence  by  ceaseless  fighting.  And  as  the  lands 
which  the  Turks  subdued  were  made  into  tributary  States  before  they 
were  fully  annexed,  the  Turks  were  able  to  use  each  people  that  they 
brought  under  their  power  as  helpers  against  the  next  people  whom 
they  attacked.  Thus  at  Cassova  Murad  had  already  Christian  tribu- 
taries fighting  on  his  side.  From  this  time  till  Servia  was  completely 
incorporated  with  the  Turkish  dominions,  the  Servians  had  to  fight 
in  the  Turkish  armies  against  the  other  Christian  nations  which  the 
Turks  attacked.  In  this  way  the  strength  of  the  Christian  nations 
was  used  against  one  another,  till  the  Turk  thought  the  time  was 
come  more  directly  to  annex  this  or  that  tributary  land.  In  this 
the  policy  of  the  Ottomans  was  much  the  same  as  the  policy  of  the 
Romans  in  old  times.  For  they  also  commonly  made  the  lands  which 
they  conquered  into  dependent  States,  before  they  formally  made  them 
into  Roman  provinces.  In  either  case  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the 
lands  which  were  left  in  this  intermediate  state  gained  much  by  not 
being  fully  annexed  at  once.  Still  the  way  by  which  the  Ottoman 
Empire  came  together  suggests  the  way  by  which  it  ought  to  fall 
asunder.  Some  of  the  tributary  lands  have  always  kept  a  certain 
amount  of  separate  being.  Some  have,  after  a  long  bondage,  come 
back  again  to  the  tributary  state.  In  short,  experience  shows  that  the 
natural  way  for  restoring  these  lands  to  their  ancient  independence  is 
by  letting  them  pass  once  more  through  the  intermediate  state.  Only 
this  time  it  must  be  with  their  faces  turned  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
thorough  freedom,  not  as  in  ages  past,  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
thorough  bondage. 
19 


290  THE    OTTOMAN  TURKS. 

The  accession  of  Bajazet  marks  a  distinct  change  in  the  history  of 
Ottoman  conquest.  Up  to  this  time  the  Ottoman  princes  had  shown 
themselves — except  in  the  exaction  of  the  tribute  children — at  least 
not  worse  than  other  Eastern  conquerors.  With  Amurath's  successor, 
Bajazet,  the  darker  side  of  the  Ottoman  dominion  comes  more  strongly 
into  view.  He  was  the  first  to  begin  his  reign  with  the  murder  of  a 
brother  out  of  cold  policy.  Under  him  too  that  foul  moral  corruption 
which  has  ever  since  been  the  distinguishing  characteristic  cf  the  Otto- 
man Turk  came  for  the  first  time  into  its  prominence.  Other  people 
have  been  foul  and  depraved ;  what  is  specially  characteristic  of  the 
Ottoman  Turk  is  that  the  common  road  to  power  is  by  the  path  of  the 
foulest  shame.  Under  Bajazet  the  best  feature  of  the  Mohammedan 
law,  the  almost  ascetic  temperance  which  it  teaches,  passed  aAvay,  and 
its  worst  feature,  the  recognition  of  slavery,  the  establishment  of  the 
arbitrary  right  of  the  conqueror  over  the  conquered,  grew  into  a 
system  of  wrong  and  outrage  of  which  the  Prophet  himself  had  never 
dreamed.  Under  Bajazet  the  Turk  fully  displayed  those  parts  of  his 
character  which  distinguish  him,  even  more  than  other  Mohammedans, 
from  Western  and  Christian  nations.  Yet  amid  all  this  corruption, 
Bajazet  could  sometimes  exercise  a  stern  Eastern  justice,  and  the 
mission  of  his  race,  the  mission  of  warfare  and  conquest,  still  went  on ; 
Bajazet  was  surnamed  the  Thunderbolt,  and  he  was  the  first  of  the 
Ottoman  princes  to  exchange  the  humbler  title  of  Emir  for  that  of 
Sultan.  Yet,  after  Bajazet  had  consolidated  the  results  of  the  victory 
of  Cassova  by  his  Bulgarian  and  Servian  conquests,  the  actual  domin- 
ion of  the  Ottomans  did  not  make  such  swift  advances  under  him  as  it 
had  made  under  his  father  Murad.  It  was  rather  distinguished  by  a 
scourge  worse  than  that  of  actual  conquest,  by  constant  plundering 
expeditions,  carried  on  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  booty  and  slaves— the 
slaves  being  specially  picked  out  for  the  vilest  purposes.  These 
ravages  spread  everywhere  from  Hungary  to  Peloponnesos.  But  the 
most  remarkable  conquest  of  Bajazet  was  in  Asia.  Philadelphia  still 
held  out,  and  its  citizens  still  deemed  themselves  subjects  of  the 
Emperors  at  Constantinople.  Yet,  when  Bajazet  thought  proper  to 
add  the  city  to  his  dominions,  the  Emperor  Manuei-and  his  son  were 
forced,  as  tributaries  of  the  Sultan,  to  send  their  contingent  to  the 
Turkish  army,  and  to  assist  in  the  conquest  of  their  own  city.  But 
enemies  presently  came  against  Bajazet  both  from  the  West  and  from 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS,  291 

the  East.  His  enemy  from  the  West  he  overthrew;  but  he  was  him- 
self overthrown  by  his  enemy  from  the  East.  A  large  body  of 
Crusaders  came  to  the  help  of  Sigismund,  King  of  Hungary,  the  same 
who  was  afterwards  Emperor  of  the  West.  But  Bajazet,  at  the  head 
of  his  own  Turks  and  of  his  Christian  tributaries,  who  were  of  course 
forced  to  serve  with  them,  overthrew  Sigismund  and  his  allies  in  the 
battle  of  Nicopolis  in  1396.  A  number  of  Christian  knights  from  the 
West  were  massacred  after  the  battle,  and  others  were  put  to  ransom ; 
among  these  last  was  one  whose  name  connects  Eastern  and  Western 
history,  John,  Count  of  Nevers,  afterwards  Duke  of  Burgundy,  the 
second  of  those  dukes  of  Burgundy  who  play  so  great  a  part  in  the 
history  of  France,  England,  and  Germany.  Bajazet  also  was  the  first 
of  the  Sultans  who  directly  attacked  Constantinople.  Things  looked 
as  if  the  last  traces  of  the  Eastern  Empire  were  now  about  to  be 
wiped  out.  But  the  Ottoman  conqueror  was  presently  met  by  a  still 
more  terrible  conqueror  from  the  further  East.  The  conquests  of 
Timour,  the  famous  Tamerlane,  which  spread  slaughter  and  havoc 
through  Mohammedan  Asia,  gave  a  moment's  respite  to  Christian 
Europe.  Bajazet  was  overthrown  and  taken  captive  at  Angora  in 
1402.  No  such  blow  ever  fell  on  any  Ottoman  prince  before  or  after. 
After  the  defeat  and  captivity  of  Bajazet,  things  looked  as  if  the 
Ottoman  dominion  had  run  the  common  course  of  an  Eastern  domin- 
ion, as  if  it  was  broken  up  forever.  And,  as  we  before  said,  the  most 
wonderful  thing  in  all  Ottoman  history  is  that,  though  it  was  broken 
up  for  a  moment,  it  was  able  to  come  together  again.  The  dominions 
of  Bajazet  were  for  a  while  divided,  and  their  possession  was  disputed 
among  his  three  sons.  At  last  they  were  joined  together  again  under 
his  son  Mohammed  I.  Still  the  time  of  confusion  was  a  time  of  relief 
to  the  powers  which  were  threatened  by  the  Turks,  and,  even  after 
Mohammed  had  again  joined  the  Ottoman  dominions  together,  he  was 
not  strong  enough  to  make  any  great  conquests.  Thus  the  European 
power  of  the  Ottomans  made  but  small  advances  during  his  reign.  It 
was  otherwise  under  his  son  Murad  11.,  during  whose  reign  of  thirty 
years,  from  1421  to  1451,  the  Turkish  power,  notwithstanding  some 
reverses,  greatly  advanced.  He  failed  in  an  attack  on  Constantinople; 
but  he  took  Thessalonica,  which  had  lately  passed  from  the  Empire  to 
the  Venetians.  So  in  his  wars  with  Hungary  he  underwent  several 
defeats  from  the  great  captain  Huniades ;  but  his  defeats  were  balanced 


292 


THE   OTTOMAN  TURKS. 


by  victories.  And  in  one  battle  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Turk 
was  in  the  right  and  the  Christian  in  the  wrong.  In  a  triumphant 
campaign,  the  Hungarian  army  had  reached  the  Balkan.  By  the 
peace  which  followed,  Servia  again  became  independent,  and  Walla- 
chia  was  ceded  to  Hungary,  Then  Wladislaus,  King  of  Hungary 
and  Poland,  was  persuaded  to  break  the  treaty,  but  he  was  defeated 
at  Varna,  and  the  Ottoman  power  was  again  restored.  Still  the 
crowning  of  all,  by  the  taking  of  the  Imperial  city  and  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  lands  on  the  Danube,  was  not  the  work  of  Murad, 
but  was  reserved  for  the  days  of  his  son. 

l|(M||||lll    I 


An  Oriental  Prince  and  his  Attendants. 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  293 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

MuRAD  II.  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Mohammed  II.,  surnamed  the 
Conqueror.  We  may  take  him  as  the  ideal  of  his  race,  the  embodi- 
ment in  their  fullest  form  of  Ottoman  greatness  and  Ottoman  wicked- 
ness. A  general  and  statesman  of  the  highest  order  even  from  his 
youth,  a  man  who  knew  his  own  purposes  and  knew  by  what  ends  to 
achieve  his  purposes,  no  man  has  a  clearer  right  to  the  title  of  great, 
so  far  as  we  can  conceive  greatness  apart  from  goodness.  We  hear  of 
him  also,  not  merely  as  soldier  and  statesman,  but  as  a  man  of 
intellectual  cultivation  in  other  ways,  as  master  of  many  languages, 
as  a  patron  of  the  art  and  literature  of  his  time.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  three  abiding  Ottoman  vices  of  cruelty,  lust,  and  faithlessness 
stand  out  in  him  all  the  more  conspicuously  from  being  set  on  a 
higher  pedestal.  He  finished  the  work  of  his  predecessors;  he  made 
the  Ottoman  power  in  Europe  what  it  has  been  ever  since.  He  gave 
a  systematic  form  to  the  customs  of  his  house  and  to  the  dominion 
which  he  had  won.  His  first  act  was  the  murder  of  his  infant 
brother,  and  he  made  the  murder  of  brothers  a  standing  law  of  his 
Empire.  He  overthrew  the  last  remnants  of  independent  Roman 
rule,  of  independent  Greek  nationality,  and  he  fixed  the  relations 
which  the  Greek  part  of  his  subjects  were  to  bear  towards  their 
Turkish  masters  and  towards  their  Christian  fellow-subjects.  He 
made  the  northern  and  western  frontiers  of  his  Empire  nearly  what 
they  still  remain.  The  Ottoman  Empire,  in  short,  as  our  age  has  to 
deal  with  it,  is,  before  all  things,  the  work  of  Mohammed  the  Con- 
queror. The  prince  whose  throne  was  fixed  in  the  new  Rome  held 
altogether  another  place  from  even  the  mightiest  of  his  predecessors. 

Mohammed  had  reigned  two  years,  he  had  lived  twenty-three,  on 
the  memorable  day,  May  29th,  1453,  when  the  Turks  entered  the  city 
of  the  Csesars,  and  when  the  last  Emperor  Constantine  died  in  the 
breach.  As  the  Turkish  armies  spread  over  Thrace,  the  forces  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire  retreated  until  they  were  confined  to  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  capital  which  had  hitherto  resisted  the  fierce  attacks  of 


294  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

the  Ottomans.  On  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus  Mohammed's 
grandfather  had  formerly  built  a  powerful  fortress,  and  Mohammed 
now  determined  to  erect  on  the  opposite  and  European  side  a  more 
formidable  castle,  as  a  base  of  operations  against  the  city.  A  thou- 
sand masons  were  commanded  to  assemble  in  the  spring  on  the  spot 
called  Asomaton,  about  five  miles  from  the  Greek  metropolis.  It  was 
the  erection  of  this  fortress  that  brought  about  a  remonstrance  from 
Constantiue  XI.,  the  Greek  Emperor,  and  afterwards  a  declaration  of 
war  on  the  part  of  Mohammed. 

Closing  himself  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  walls  of  his  capital, 
Constantine  Palseologus,  surnamed  Dragases,  watched  anxiously  the 
building  of  the  fortress  at  Asomaton  by  Mohammed  II.  The  fortress 
rose  with  great  rapidity,  and  was  built  in  a  triangular  form,  each 
angle  being  flanked  by  a  strong  and  massive  tower,  one  on  the 
declivity  of  the  hill,  two  along  the  seashore.  A  thickness  of  twenty- 
two  feet  was  assigned  for  the  walls,  thirty  for  the  towers,  and  the 
whole  building  was  covered  with  a  solid  platform  of  lead. 

While  Mohammed  in  person  superintended  the  erection  of  this 
fortress,  Constantine,  alarmed  at  the  extensive  preparations  he  saw 
making,  did  his  utmost  by  flattery  and  by  gifts  to  ward  ofi'  the  blow 
which  he  felt  was  impending;  but  when  he  saw  that  remonstrances 
and  concessions  were  in  vain,  and  that  the  "  die  was  cast,"  he  deter- 
mined, like  a  brave  soldier,  that  the  Mohammedans  should  not  pur- 
chase their  victory  cheaply,  and  he  cast  down  the  gauntlet  with  the 
following  words  to  the  great  Sultan:  "Since  neither  oaths,  nor  treaty, 
nor  submission  can  secure  peace,  pursue  your  impious  warfare.  My 
trust  is  in  God  alone,  and  if  it  should  please  Him  to  modify  your 
heart,  I  shall  rejoice  in  the  happy  change.  If  He  delivers  the  city 
into  your  hands  I  submit  without  a  murmur  to  His  holy  will.  But 
until  the  Judge  of  the  Earth  shall  pronounce  between  us  it  is  my 
duty  to  live  and  die  in  the  defence  of  my  people." 

Strange!  These  were  the  words  of  Christians  to  Turks  when  the 
empire  of  the  former  trembled  in  the  balance;  and  now,  three  hundred 
and  twenty-six  years  afterwards,  the  empire  again  trembles  in  the 
balance,  and  the  words  of  Turks  to  Christian  Russia  seem  but  the 
echo  thrown  back  from  the  year  1452. 

INIohammed  was  an  adept  in  the  art  of  war,  and  was  indefatigable 
in  his  preparations  for  the  coming  siege,  but  they  were  accompanied 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  295 

by  a  nervous  excitement  which  marked  the  extreme  importance  of 
the  occasion,  and  his  recognition  of  the  power  of  the  Byzantine 
Empire,  which  was  arrayed  against  him. 

Frequent  were  the  consultations  with  his  Grand  Vizier,  his  generals 
and  engineers,  and  plans  of  the  city  and  the  positions  for  all  his 
batteries  were  laid  out  with  most  scrupulous  care.  Everything  was 
submitted  to  the  criticism  of  his  own  eye,  and  nothing  was  to  be  left 
to  chance.  The  recent  introduction  of  cannon  was  to  be  the  chief 
element  in  the  siege,  and  a  foundry  was  created  at  Adrianople  to  cast 
cannons  which  would  throw  a  stone  ball  of  six  hundred  pounds  weight. 

All  the  aids  of  both  ancient  and  modern  warfare  were  enlisted  for 
the  seige,  and  men  might  be  seen  dragging  huge  cannon  into  position, 
while  near  them  huge  wooden  towers,  on  rollers,  crept  slowly  to  the 
front,  to  be  finally  filled  with  troops  and  placed  against  the  ditch, 
there  to  discharge  their  living  freight,  by  means  of  ladders  thrown 
from  the  tower-top,  across  the  ditch,  to  meet  the  wall. 

The  smoke  of  modern  cannon  was  to  cloak  the  instruments  of 
ancient  warfare.  Not  only  was  gunpowder  to  propel  the  missiles,  but 
great  engines  for  hurling  stones,  and  battering-rams  to  beat  down  the 
walls,  were  all  moving  to  their  carefully-appointed  places.  Various  are 
the  accounts  which  are  given  of  the  formidable  army  of  Turks,  which, 
under  their  fierce  Sultan,  was  to  aid  this  grim  machinery  in  its  work 
of  death ;  but  Gibbon  arrives  at  258,000  as  the  total  Ottoman  force, 
of  which  60,000  cavalry  and  20,000  infantry  were  regular  troops,  and 
the  remainder  auxiliaries.  Added  to  these  was  a  naval  force  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  vessels,  but  with  the  exception  of  eighteen  ships 
of  war  the  remainder  were  small  craft,  used  mostly  for  transport. 

Constantinople  was  defended  on  one  side  by  the  Golden  Horn,  on  the 
other  by  the  sea,,  and  the  third  side  of  the  triangle  had,  and  has,  a 
great  wall  six  miles  long,  with  high  flanking  towers  at  very  short 
intervals.  Opposite  and  parallel  to  this  wall  Mohammed  cut  a  ditch 
to  cover  his  attack.  Fourteen  batteries  were  distributed  opposite  the 
most  feeble  parts  of  the  walls.  The  principal  point  of  attack  was  to 
be  the  great  central  gate  of  St.  Romanus.  Archers  were  to  shower 
their  arrows  wherever  the  besieged  should  show  themselves,  and  miners 
were  brought  from  Servia  for  subterraneous  works.  Nothing  was 
forgotten,  and  all  the  art  and  strength  of  the  Ottoman  monarch  was 
concentrated  for  the  effort. 


296 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


On  the  Christian  side  preparations  for  defence  were  not  wanting, 
but  there  was  an  absence  of  unity  of  action.     An  empire  does  not  fall 

without  a  cause,  and  the  in- 
trigues, the  dissensions,  and 
the   jealousies   which    had 
driven    the    Greeks    out  of 
Thrace,   and    hemmed   them 
into   their   fortified   triangle, 
now  shone  out  in  all  its  force, 
and,    like   a   will-'o-the-wisp, 
lured  the  empire  to  its  final 
destruction.     Conscious  of 
his  weakness,  occasioned   by 
the  intrigues  of  his  subjects, 
Constantine,  eager  to  gain  the 
aid  of  any  reinforcement,  pro- 
fessed at  the  last  moment  the 
■'^'spiritual    obedience    of    the 
Greek  to  the  Roman  Church, 
but  the  false  concession  only 
produced   bitterness  and  dis- 
appointment, and  the  rancor 
excited   against  the  Genoese 
forces  was  almost  equal  to  the 
hatred  of  the  Turk.     It  was  a 
forlorn  hope  of  policy,  which 
fell  back  shattered   and   de- 
feated;  for,   instead  of  rein- 
forcements from   without,   it 
only   produced   fresh   dissen- 
A  Curious  Column  near  Constantinople,   gj^f^g  -^ithin. 

This  column  was  long  buried,  and  wh.n  or  why  it  was        r^^^    ^^^^^     nUmbcr    of     iu- 
erected  is  not  known;  it  was  excavated  in  1855. 

habitants,  including  men, 
women,  and  children,  did  not  exceed  100,000  persons,  and  of  these  all 
that  could  be  counted  upon  for  the  defence  of  the  capital  was  5,000 
men ;  but  to  them  were  added  a  brave  but  small  force  of  Latin  volun- 
^teers,  under  the  able  leadership  of  John  Giustiniani,  a  Genoese. 

The  imminence  of  the  danger  at  last  roused  the  population  to  a 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  297 

sense  of  their  critical  position,  and  the  unremitting  exertions  and 
ardor  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  transmitted  itself  to  the  troops. 
Constantine  distributed  his  small  forces  along  the  forts,  and  himself 
took  the  command  of  the  outer  wall.  He  exhorted  his  men  and 
officers  to  emulate  each  other  in  the  defence  of  all  they  held  dear,  and 
encouraged  the  timid  with  hopes  of  success  and  promises  of  reward. 
Such  were  his  exertions  at  the  last  that  he  inspired  an  enthusiasm 
which  he  would  fain  have  felt  himself,  for  in  his  own  heart  he  knew 
that  he  must  fight  and  die. 

A  strong  chain  was  thrown  across  the  Golden  Horn,  and  all  the 
ships  which  arrived  at  the  port  were  detained  for  the  service  of  the 
besieged.     Of  war  ships  he  could  count  but  fourteen. 

The  Turkish  preparations  were  at  last  complete,  the  troops  were  in 
position,  the  batteries  fixed,  the  soldiers  were  reminded  of  the  glories 
of  their  ancestors,  and  prayers  were  offered  to  Heaven  for  success,  and 
on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April,  1453,  the  signal  was  given,  and 
the  Ottoman  cannon  thundered  at  the  gates  of  Christendom. 

At  first  the  Greeks  in  their  ardor  for  the  fight,  rushed  down  the 
ditch  to  meet  the  foe  in  the  open  field,  but  soon  fell  back  exhausted  by 
the  advancing  hosts.  The  battle  raged  fiercely  along  the  line,  but 
night  came,  and  no  impression  was  made  upon  the  gallant  defenders. 

Day  after  day  was  the  fight  renewed,  but  morning  came  and  showed 
the  city  still  confident  and  strong.  At  last  food  was  getting  scarce, 
and  the  horrors  of  a  siege  were  sorely  felt ;  but  soon  the  spirits  of  the 
Greeks  were  raised,  as  away  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora  they  espied  five 
great  ships  well  laden  with  supplies,  and  which,  by  their  colors  flying, 
told  that  they  were  friends  of  those  in  need.  Onward  they  flew  before 
the  breeze,  but  what  a  sight  now  met  them  as  they  neared  the  port! 
Three  hundred  Turkish  ships  were  drawn  across  the  straits,  each  filled 
with  troops,  and  eager  for  the  fight.  The  famished  Christians,  from 
the  lofty  towers,  watched  eagerly  the  approaching  succor,  and  the 
hungry  wish  was  father  to  the  thought  that  the  coming  fight  might 
win  a  kindly  smile  from  Fortune. 

The  news  flew  quickly  through  the  Turkish  ranks  that  a  naval 
combat  was  on  foot,  and  soon  the  waters  of  the  Bosphorus  seemed  to 
break  upon  a  beach  of  turbaned  heads — one  bare  spot  there  was,  as  it 
were  a  bay,  and  in  it  the  waves  beat,  as  against  a  rock,  upon  the 
charger  of  the  Sultan,  who,  riding  breast  high  into  the  sea,  came  down 


298  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

to  watct  the  unequal  fight,  not  doubting  but  that  these  rash  sailor 
Franks  would  soon  be  punished  for  their  insolence. 

But  there  were  brave  hearts  in  those  five  gallant  ships,  willing  to 
meet  the  outnumbering  enemy.  Gaily  they  careened  before  the  swell- 
ing breeze,  their  white  sails  whitening  in  the  sun,  and  steering  straight 
upon  the  Turkish  line  bore  down  upon  the  foe.  Truly  it  was  a  gallant 
sight,  as  all  must  feel,  who,  having  witnessed  the  beauties  of  the  Bos- 
phorus,  can  picture  the  struggling  ships,  urged  on  by  cries  and  yells 
from  the  armed  contending  hosts.  Suddenly  from  the  Christian  ranks 
there  burst  a  joyous  shout  as  the  Turkish  ships  first  wavered  and  then 
fled.  But  above  all  shouts  there  arose  the  bitter  taunt  of  the  fierce 
Sultan,  as,  mad  with  rage,  he,  with  threatening  gestures,  called  on  his 
naval  captains  to  make  good  the  fight.  But  the  rent  was  made,  and 
like  chips  of  straw  before  the  rushing  wind,  the  Turkish  craft  were 
swept  aside,  and  amidst  ten  thousand  Christian  cheers,  the  succoring 
ships  sailed  in  victorious  to  the  Golden  Horn.  Then  many  a  mother's 
heart  was  joyous  as  she  closely  clasped  her  half-famished  child. 

The  days  wore  on,  and  fight  succeeded  fight,  but  still  the  Christian 
front  was  bold,  and  the  Turkish  hosts  were  bafiled.  Then  the  warlike 
genius  of  the  Sultan  came  to  his  aid,  and  pointed  out  the  weak  spot 
in  the  armor  of  his  adversaries.  Could  he  but  place  his  ships  within 
the  Golden  Horn,  the  enemy's  weakest  point  lay  open  to  attack.  But 
how  to  reach  it  ?  The  chain  across  the  mouth  could  not  be  broken, 
and  all  else  was  land.  No  matter,  it  must  be  done,  and  done  that 
very  night.  The  small  craft  were  beached,  the  strongest  men  told  off 
for  each,  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  night,  for  ten  miles  on  a  road 
of  planks,  over  hill  and  over  dale,  in  perfect  silence,  fourscore  heavy 
craft  were  dragged  and  launched  upon  the  Golden  Horn, 

The  dawn  brought  a  bitter  surprise  to  the  still  gallant  Greeks.  And 
now  Mohammed  gathered  his  engineers,  and  the  heavy  cannon  were 
seen  moving  to  the  water's  edge,  where  rafts  were  ready  to  receive  them 
and  form  a  floating  battery.  Such  was  the  size  of  these  monster  guns, 
that  seven  shots  a  day  was  all  they  could  be  made  to  fire.  Fifty-three 
weary  days  and  nights  had  now  passed,  and  hunger  had  so  told  upon 
the  courage  of  the  Greeks,  that  at  sight  of  these  floating  batteries 
and  preparations  of  the  Turks  they  grew  sick  at  heart,  and  they  now 
clamored  to  the  Emperor  to  deliver  up  the  city.  But  sternly  the 
Christian  king  refused,  and  bid  them  to  their  posts  to  fight,  and  if 
needs  be  to  die. 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  299 

It  was  on  the  29tli  of  May  that  Mohammed  saw  his  works  complete ; 
and  all  was  ready  for  the  final  rush  of  Islamism  on  Christendom. 

The  great  Byzantine  Empire,  once  foremost  in  the  powers  of  tlie 
world,  had  shrunk  within  the  narrow  space  before  him,  and  he  was 
now  ready  to  crush  it  in  his  grasp. 

Amidst  the  Turkish  ranks  the  Sheiks  and  Imaums  (ministers  of 
religion)  suggested  hopes  of  Paradise  to  brave  soldiers  who  might  to- 
morrow meet  a  glorious  death,  and  to  those  who  might  survive  freely 
promised  rewards  and  honors.  Then,  as  the  sun  sunk  slowly  in  the 
west,  two  hundred  thousand  Moslems  bowed  down  their  head  to  Mother 
Earth  in  one  united  prayer.  All  day  the  cannon  had  thundered 
against  the  opposing  walls,  and  near  the  great  gate  of  Saint  Romanus 
a  yawning  breach  was  seen.  Constantino  knew  that  the  storm  was 
soon  to  burst,  but  mean  jealousies  were  rife  among  the  Christian  ranks. 
The  gallant  Giustiniani,  like  a  true  soldier,  did  his  duty,  and  placed 
the  brave  Latins  here  and  there,  where  points  seemed  weakest.  The 
Emperor  was  everywhere  exhorting  to  brave  deeds,  and  enthusiasm 
seemed  to  follow  in  his  path.  When  all  were  placed,  and  orders  given, 
then  with  some  few  chosen  knights  he  retired  to  the  great  Church  of 
St.  Sophia.  He  knew  that  his  hour  was  at  hand.  He  slowly  entered 
the  grand  and  sacred  edifice,  and  there,  uncovered,  the  last  Byzantine 
Emperor,  surrounded  by  his  knights,  stood  before  the  cross.  To-morrow 
the  Byzantine  Empire  would  pass  away  with  him!  His  tears  fell 
thickly  at  the  thought,  and  he  knelt  before  the  cross  and  prayed  that 
he  might  die  as  it  became  a  Christian  knight ;  then,  for  the  last  time, 
he  partook  of  the  sacred  emblems  of  his  Saviour,  and,  turning  to  those 
around,  he  said :  "  I  pray  forgiveness  if  1  have  injured  any  one  in 
thought  or  deed." 

Then,  striding  to  the  portal  of  the  church,  where  stood  his  impatient 
gteed,  he  placed  his  helmet  on  his  head,  and,  mounting  into  the  saddle, 
the  humble  Christian  penitent  rode  off  as  warrior  Christian  king,  to 
battle  and  to  die. 

The  sun  had  set,  the  evening  past,  and  night  fell  on  the  attendant 
hosts.  Christian  knights,  as  they  lay  under  the  starry  canopy  of 
heaven,  cast  off  the  sterner  half  of  man,  and  let  their  softer  nature 
free;  and  loving  thoughts  of  mothers,  sisters,  wives,  went  winging 
through  the  air  to  meet  in  last  embrace.  And  now  the  solemn  calm 
before   the  coming  storm  drew  near,  and  all  was  hushed  and  still. 


300 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


'f^^:^^^^ 


A  Modern  Oriental. 


Constantine  did  not  sleep,  but  from  a  lofty  tower  watched  in  the  still- 
ness of  the  night  over  the  Moslem  host.  At  length,  as  dawn  drew 
near,  hin  quick  ear  caught  the  measured  tread  of  Moslems  marching  to 
their  posts,  and  many  to  their  graves,  and  he  warned  the  Christians  to 
their  battlements.  Soon  the  stars  grew  pale,  and  the  minutes  of  many 
a  gallant  life  were  ebbing  fast  away.  Then  suddenly,  like  a  thunder- 
clap, burst  out  the  stirring  roar  of  war.  The  shouts  of  men,  the  clang 
of  arms,  the  cannons'  roar,  the  horses'  neigh,  the  loud  commands,  all 
mingled  in  one  exciting  din  as  the  Moslems  rushed  into  the  breach ;  by 
sea,  by  land,  along  the  whole  line  the  fierce  attack  was  made.  Wave 
after  wave  of  troops  went  forward  to  perish  in  the  ditch,  which  was 
soon  filled  up  and  bridged  by  the  bodies  of  the  dead  and  dying. 
"Wherever  the  Greeks  grew  faint  there  appeared  the  noble  Christian 
king,  and  where  the  king  was  there  the  Greeks  grew  brave,  for  he  was 
ever  foremost  in  the  fight. 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  301 

Two  hours  passed  of  bloodshed,  and  still  the  Greeks  and  Latins 
bravely  held  their  ground ;  the  Moslems  paused,  and  victory  seemed 
about  to  touch  the  hand  of  Christendom, 

Then,  from  behind  the  smoke  and  dust  and  swelling  above  the  din 
of  war,  there  came  the  sound  of  martial  music,  drums,  fifes,  and 
attaballs,  growing  louder,  louder  as  it  neared  the  great  gate  of  St. 
Romanus. 

And  from  out  the  smoke  there  rode  the  Padishah,  the  fierce  Seljukian 
Sultan,  with  royal  iron  mace  in  hand,  and  behind  him,  with  calm  and 
measured  tread,  there  came  ten  thousand  chosen  Janissaries,  and  made 
straight  for  the  great  breach. 

Onward  they  came,  and  then,  with  one  wild  shout,  they  rushed  into 
the  breach.  Amidst  the  dust  and  smoke  might  be  seen  the  Christian 
king  the  foremost  in  the  fight,  but  no  longer  by  his  side  stood  Gius- 
tiniani,  who,  sorely  wounded,  had  retired  from  the  fight. 

Fierce  was  the  struggle  and  furiously  raged  the  fight.  Here  Turk 
grappled  Christian  in  the  death-struggle,  and  shouts  and  groans  and 
loud  commands  rose  upon  the  air.  But  still  the  Christians  held  their 
ground.  Presently  there  came  a  sound  at  first  in  front,  then  swelling 
louder,  louder,  like  a  rushing  gale  from  right  to  left,  from  front  to 
rear,  "Allahu  Akbar!  Allahu  Akbar!"  rent  the  air.  The  brave 
Constantino  heard  and  knew  that  all  was  lost ;  then  turning  to  those 
around,  "  Can  no  man  here  be  found  to  take  away  my  life,"  he  mourn- 
fully exclaimed,  but  none  stepped  forth  to  fell  the  noble  tree.  "  It  is 
enough,  0  Lord ;  now  take  away  my  life,"  and  he  plunged  into  the 
fight,  and  fought  until  some  unknown  hand  struck  him  to  the  heart, 
and  as  he  sank  among  the  heap  of  slain,  another  name  was  added  to 
the  obituary  of  heroes,  and  the  Crescent  rose  over  the  watei'S  of  the 
Bosphorus,  and  cast  a  shadow  over  the  fairest  land  in  Europe.  Thus 
fell  the  Byzantme  Empire,  and  well  might  the  Emperor  and  his 
knights  have  said : 

"Go,  stranger,  and  in  Lacedsemon  tell 
That  here  obedient  to  her  laws  we  fell." 

We  pass  over  the  miserable  scenes  of  the  sacking  and  pillage  of  the 
city,  which  now  became  the  seat  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  Sultan 
proceeded  straight  to  the  church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  alighting,  entered 
surrounded  by  his  viziers,  his  pashas,  and  his  guards,  and  ordered  one 
of  the  Imaums  who  accompanied  him  to  summon  the  faithful  and  all 


302  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

true  believers  to  prayer,  and  he  then  himself  mounted  the  high  altar, 
and  the  Moslem  prayer  went  up  from  the  same  temple  that  had  but 
yesterday  heard  the  Christian  prayer  for  victory.  The  body  of  the 
Emperor  was  sought,  and  the  head  cut  off  and  exhibited  for  a  time 
between  the  feet  of  the  bronze  horse  of  the  equestrian  statue  of  Jus- 
tinian, in  the  place  called  the  Augustan.  It  was  subsequently 
embalmed  and  sent  around  the  chief  cities  of  Asia. 

Now  that  the  Imperial  city  was  at  last  taken,  Mohammed  seemed 
to  make  it  his  policy,  both  to  gather  in  whatever  remained  uncon- 
quered,  and  to  bring  most  of  the  states  which  had  hitherto  been 
tributary  under  his  direct  rule.  Greece  itself,  though  it  had  been 
often  ravaged  by  the  Turks,  had  not  been  added  to  their  dominions. 
The  Emperors  had,  in  the  very  last  days  of  the  Empire  before  the  fall 
of  Constantinople,  recovered  all  Peloponnesos,  except  some  points 
which  were  held  by  Venice.  Frank  Dukes  also  reigned  at  Athens, 
and  another  small  duchy  lingered  on  in  the  islands  of  Leukas  and 
Kephallenia  and  on  the  coasts  of  Akarnania.  The  Turkish  conquest 
of  the  mainland  was  completed  by  the  year  1460,  but  the  two  western 
islands  were  not  taken  until  1479.  Euboia  was  conquered  in  1471, 
when  the  Venetian  Governor  Erizzo,  who  had  stipulated  for  the  safety 
of  his  head,  had  his  body  sawn  asunder.  No  deeds  of  this  kind  are 
recorded  of  the  earlier  Ottoman  princes ;  but  by  Mohammed's  time  the 
Turks  had  fully  learned  those  lessons  of  cruelty  and  faithlessness  which 
they  have  gone  on  practicing  ever  since.  The  Empire  of  Trebizond 
was  conquered  in  1461,  and  the  island  of  Lesbos  in  1462.  There  was 
now  no  independent  Greek  state  left.  Crete,  Corfu,  and  some  smaller 
islands  and  points  of  coast,  were  held  by  Venice,  and  some  of  the 
islands  of  the  JEgsean  were  still  ruled  by  Frank  princes  and  by  the 
Knights  of  St.  John.  But,  after  the  fall  of  Trebizond,  there  was  no 
longer  any  independent  Greek  state  anywhere,  and  the  part  of  the 
Greek  nation  which  was  under  Christian  rulers  of  any  kind  was  now 
far  smaller  than  the  part  Avhich  was  under  the  Turk. 

While  the  Greeks  were  thus  wholly  subdued,  the  Slaves  fared  no 
better.  In  1459  Servia  was  reduced  from  a  tributary  principality  to 
an  Ottoman  province,  and  six  years  later  Bosnia  Avas  annexed  also. 
The  last  Bosnian  king,  like  the  Venetian  governor  in  Euboia,  was 
promised  his  life ;  but  he  and  his  sons  were  put  to  death  none  the  less. 
One  little  fragment  of  the  great  Slavonic  power  in  those  lands  alone 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  303 

remained.  The  little  district  of  Zeta,  a  part  of  the  Servian  kingdom, 
was  never  fully  conquered  by  the  Turks.  One  part  of  it,  the  moun- 
tain district  called  Montenegro,  has  kept  its  indejDendence  to  our  own 
times.  Standing  as  an  outpost  of  freedom  and  Christendom  amid 
surrounding  bondage,  the  Black  Mountain  has  been  often  attacked,  it 
has  been  several  times  overrun,  but  it  has  never  been  conquered.  In 
a  ceaseless  warfare  of  four  hundred  years,  neglected,  sometimes  be- 
trayed, by  the  Christian  powers  of  Europe,  this  small  people  has  still 
held  its  own  against  the  whole  might  of  the  Turkish  power.  First 
under  hereditary  princes,  then  under  warrior  bishops,  now  under 
hereditary  princes  again,  this  little  nation  of  heroes,  whose  territory 
is  simply  so  much  of  the  ancient  land  of  their  race  as  they  are  able  to 
save  from  barbarian  invasion,  have  still  held  their  own,  while  the 
greater  powers  around  them  have  fallen.  To  the  south  of  them,  the 
Christian  Albanians  held  out  for  a  long  time  under  their  famous  chief, 
George  Castriot  or  Scanderbeg.  After  his  death  in  1459,  they  also 
came  under  the  yoke.  These  conquests  of  Mohammed  gave  the  Otto- 
man dominion  in  Europe  nearly  the  same  extent  which  it  has  now. 
His  victories  had  been  great,  but  they  were  balanced  by  some  defeats. 
The  conquest  of  Servia  and  Bosnia  opened  the  way  to  endless  inroads 
into  Hungary,  Southeastern  Germany  and  Northeastern  Italy.  But 
as  yet  these  lands  were  merely  ravaged,  and  the  Turkish  power  met 
with  some  reverses.  In  1456  Belgrade,  an  ancient  border  fortress, 
and  a  constant  source  of  dissension  between  Christians  and  Mohamme- 
dans, was  saved  by  the  last  victory  of  Huniades,  and  this  time 
Mohammed  the  Conqueror  had  to  flee.  In  another  part  of  Europe, 
if  in  those  days  it  is  to  be  counted  for  Europe,  Mohammed  won  the 
Genoese  possessions  in  the  peninsula  of  Crimea,  and  the  Tartar  Khans 
who  ruled  in  that  peninsula  and  the  neighboring  lands  became  vassals 
of  the  Sultan.  The  Ottomans  were  thus  brought  into  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Poland,  Lithuania,  and  Eussia.  The  last  years  of  Moham- 
med's reign  were  marked  by  a  great  failure  and  a  great  success.  He 
failed  to  take  Rhodes,  which  belonged  to  the  Knights  of  St.  John ; 
but  his  troops  suddenly  seized  Otranto  in  Southern  Italy.  Had 
this  post  been  kept,  Italy  might  have  fallen  as  well  as  Greece ;  but 
the  Conqueror  died  the  next  year,  and  Otranto  was  won  back. 

Thus  two  Empires,  and  endless  smaller  states,  came   out  of  the 
power  of  the  Ottomans  under  the  mightiest  of  their  Sultans.     Greeks, 


304 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


CONQUEST  OF  COXSTANTINOPLE.  305 

Slaves,  Albanians,  all  came  under  the  yoke.  But  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  it  was  by  the  arms  of  men  of  Greek,  Slave,  and  Albanian 
blood  that  they  were  brought  under  the  yoke.  For  the  Janissaries 
formed  the  strength  of  the  Ottoman  armies,  and  the  Janissaries  were 
formed  of  the  kidnapped  children  of  the  conquered  nations.  Thus 
the  Christian  nations  of  Southeastern  Europe  had  their  own  strength 
turned  against  them,  and  were  overcome  by  the  arms  of  their  own 
children.  And  presently  the  far-seeing  eye  of  Mohammed  found  out 
that  their  wits  might  be  turned  against  them  as  well  as  their  arms. 
He  saw  that  the  Greeks  had  a  keener  wit,  either  than  his  own  Turks 
or  than  the  other  subject  nations,  and  he  saw  that  their  keen  wit 
might,  in  the  case  of  a  part  of  the  Greek  nation,  be  made  an  instru- 
ment of  his  purposes.  By  his  policy  the  Eastern  Church  itself  was 
turned  into  an  instrument  of  Turkish  dominion.  Speaking  roughly, 
the  lower  clergy  throughout  the  conquered  lands  have  always  been 
patriotic  leaders,  while  the  Bishops  and  other  higher  clergy  have  been 
slaves  and  instruments  of  the  Turk.  Greek  Bishops  bore  rule  over 
Slavonic  churches,  and  so  formed  another  fetter  in  the  chain  by  which 
the  conquered  nations  were  held  down.  In  course  of  time  the  Sultans 
extended  the  same  policy  to  temporal  matters.  The  Greeks,  not  of 
Old  Greece,  but  of  Constantinople,  the  Fanariots,  as  they  came  to  be 
called,  became  in  some  sort  a  ruling  race  among  their  fellow-bondmen. 
Their  ability  made  them  useful,  and  the  Turks  learned  to  make  use 
of  their  ability  in  many  ways.  In  all  conquests  a  certain  class  of  the 
conquered  finds  its  interest  in  entering  the  service  of  the  conqueror. 
As  a  rule,  such  men  are  the  worst  class  of  the  conquered.  They  are 
commonly  more  corrupt  and  oppressive  than  the  conquerors  them- 
selves. It  therefore  in  no  way  lessened  but  rather  heightened  the 
bitterness  of  Ottoman  rule,  that  it  was  largely  carried  on  by  Christian 
instruments.  The  Slavonic  provinces  had  in  fact  to  bear  a  two-fold 
yoke,  Turkish  and  Greek.  But  this  it  should  be  remembered  only 
applies  to  the  Greeks  of  Constantinople.  The  Greeks  of  Greece  itself 
and  the  rest  of  the  Empire  were  no  better  off  than  the  other  subjects 
of  the  Turk.  It  must  be  remembered  too  that,  after  all,  the  Fanariot 
Greeks  themselves  were  a  subject  race,  cut  off  from  all  share  in  the 
higher  rule  of  their  country.  That  was  reserved  for  men  of  the  ruling 
religion,  whether  native  Turks  or  renegades  of  any  nation.  And 
lastly  it  should  be  remembered  that,  under  the  rule  of  Mohammed 
20 


306  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

the  Conqueror,  every  man,  Turk,  Christian,  or  renegade,  held  his  life 
and  all  that  he  had  at  the  pleasure  of  Mohammed  the  Conqueror. 

The  Turkish  rule  was  now  fully  established  over  a  considerable 
part  of  Europe,  over  nearly  the  whole  of  the  lands  between  the 
Adriatic  and  the  Euxine.  Except  where  the  brave  men  of  Zeta  still 
held  out  on  the  Black  Mountain  and  where  the  city  of  Ragusa  still 
kept  its  freedom,  no  part  of  those  lands  was  under  a  national  govern- 
ment. The  few  islands  and  pieces  of  coast  which  had  escaped  the 
Turk  were  under  the  rule  either  of  Venice  or  of  other  Frank  powers. 
From  that  day,  till  in  our  own  century  Servia  and  Greece  became 
free,  all  those  lands  have  been  in  bondage ;  the  greater  part  of  them 
remain  in  bondage  still.  Their  people  have  not  only  been  subjects  of 
a  foreign  prince;  they  have  been  subjects  of  a  foreign  army  in  their 
own  laud.  The  rule  of  law  has  for  all  those  ages  ceased  in  those  lands. 
The  people  of  the  land  have  had  only  one  way  of  rising  out  of  their 
state  of  bondage,  namely,  by  embracing  the  religion  of  their  con- 
querors. This  many  of  them  did,  and  so  were  transferred  from  the 
ranks  of  the  oppressed  to  the  ranks  of  the  oppressors.  In  some  parts 
Avhole  classes  did  so.  This  happened  specially  in  Bosnia.  There  the 
mass  of  the  land-owners  embraced  Islam  in  order  to  keep  their  lands, 
while  the  body  of  the  people  remained  faithful.  These  renegades  and 
their  descendants  have  ever  since  formed  an  oligarchy  whose  rulo  has 
been  worse  than  that  of  the  Turks  themselves.  The  same  thing  hap- 
pened in  Bulgaria  to  some  degree,  though  to  a  much  less  extent  than 
in  Bosnia.  It  was  only  in  Albania  that  the  Mohammedan  faith  was 
really  adopted  by  the  mass  of  the  people  of  large  districts.  In  Albania 
a  large  part  of  the  country  did  become  Mohammedan,  while  other  parts 
remained  Christian,  some  tribes  being  Catholic  and  some  Orthodox. 
But,  as  a  rule,  throughout  the  European  lands  Avhich  were  conquered 
by  the  Turk,  the  mass  of  the  people  adhered  to  their  faith,  in  defiance 
of  all  temptations  and  all  oppressions.  Rather  than  forsake  their 
faith,  they  have  endured  to  live  on  as  bondsmen  in  their  own  land, 
under  the  scorn  and  lash  of  foreign  conquerors,  while  apostasy  would 
at  any  moment  have  raised  them  to  the  level  of  their  conquerors. 
They  have  endured  to  live  on,  while  their  goods,  their  lives,  the  honor 
of  their  families,  Avcre  at  the  mercy  of  barbarians,  Avhile  their  sons 
were  kidnapjied  from  them  to  be  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  the 
oppressor  and  to  swell  the  strength  of  his  armies.     In  this  state  of 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


307 


An  Eastern  Monarch  in  his  Axjdience  Chamber. 


abiding  martyrdom  they  have  lived,  in  different  parts  of  the  lands 
under  Turkish  rule,  for  two,  for  four,  for  five  hundred  years.  While 
the  nations  of  Western  Europe  have  been  able  to  advance,  they  have 
been  kept  down  under  the  iron  heel  of  their  tyrants. 

It  may  however  be  asked  with  perfect  fairness,  how  came  the  Otto- 
man Turks,  starting  from  such  small  beginnings  and  having  at  first 
such  small  power,  to  make  such  great  conquests,  and  to  win  and  to 
keep  so  many  lands,  both  Christian  and  Mussulman  ?  With  regard  to 
the  conquests  of  the  Ottomans  over  other  Mussulmans,  there  is  nothing 
wonderful  in  their  making  them ;  the  wonderful  thing  is  that  they  were 
able  to  keep  them.  Their  rise  to  power  was  exactly  like  the  rise  to 
power  of  many  other  Eastern  dynasties.  Only,  while  other  Eastern 
dynasties  have  soon  broken  in  pieces,  this  one  kept  on  unbroken.  Or 
it  would  be  truer  to  say,  what  is  really  more  wonderful,  that,  after  the 


308  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

fall  of  Bajazet,  the  Ottoman  power  did  break  in  pieces  for  a  moment, 
but  that  it  was  able  to  come  together  again.    The  continued  succession 
of  able  princes   in   the   House  of  Othman,  the  firm  administration 
which  they  established,  their  excellent  military  discipline,  and  above 
all  the  institution  of  the  Janissaries,  will  account  for  a  great  deal. 
And  before  long  we  shall  see  that  the  Ottoman  Sultans  won  a  further 
claim  to  the  religious  allegiance,  not  only  of  their  own  subjects,  but 
of  all  orthodox  Mussulmans.     With  regard  to  their  conquests  over 
Christians,  the  state  of  the  Southeastern  lands  at  that  moment  gave 
them  many   advantages.     The   Ottomans  were   a   power — nation  is 
hardly   the  word— in  the  full   freshness  of  youth  and   enthusiasm, 
military  and   religious.     Every  Janissary,   it  must  be  remembered, 
brought  to  his  work  the  zeal  of  a  new  convert.     As  yet  the  Ottomans 
were  in  their  full  strength,  under  princes  who  knew  how  to  use  their 
strength.     They   found  in   Southeastern   Europe  a  number  of  dis- 
united powers,  jealous  of  one  another,  and  many  of  them  having  no 
real  basis  of  national  life.     The  Eastern  Empire  was  worn  out.     It 
would  seem  as  if  the  strength  of  the  Greeks  had  been  worn  out  by 
winning  back  Constantinople.     Certain  it  is  that  the  Emperors  who 
reigned  at  Nikaia  in  the  thirteenth  century  were  far  better  and  more 
vigorous  rulers  than  the  Emperors  who  reigned  at  Constantinople  in 
the  fourteenth  century.     Certain  it  is  that  the  greatness  of  Constanti- 
nople,  its  strength  and   its  great  traditions,  helped   to   prolong  the 
existence  of  a  power  whose  real  day  was  past,  and  thereby  to  hinder 
the  growth  of  the  more  vigorous  Slavonic  nations  which  might  other- 
wise have  stepped  into  its  place.     The  Frank  powers,  except  Venice, 
were  small  and  weak,  and  they  were  nowhere  national.     We  may 
believe  that  their  rule  was  nowhere  quite  so  bad  as  that  of  the  Turks ; 
still  it  was  everywhere  a  foreign  rule.     The  Greeks  who  were  under 
Venice  and  under  the  Frank  princes,  were  under  rulers  who  were 
alien  to  their  subjects  in  speech,  race,  and  creed.     There  could  be  no 
loyalty  or  national  feeling  felt  towards  them.     It  is  not  very  wonderful 
that  the  Turkish  Sultans,  with  their  stern  determination  and  their 
admirably  disciplined  armies,  could  swallow  up  these  powers,  disunited 
and  some  of  them  decaying,  one  by  one.    Again,  the  custom  of  making 
their  conquests  for  a  while  merely  tributary,  instead  of  at  once  fully 
annexing  them,  helped  the  purpose  of  the  Turk  by  enabling  him  to 
help   in  subduing  the  nation  next  beyond   it.     So   did  the  custom 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  309 

of  harrying  and  plundering  lands  before  their  actual  conquest  waa 
attempted.  Men  might  be  tempted  to  doubt  whether  regular  bondage 
to  the  Turk  might  not  be  a  less  evil  than  having  their  lands  ravaged 
and  their  children  carried  away  into  slavery. 

As  most  things  in  history  have  their  parallel,  it  may  be  well  to 
notice  that  the  cause  which  brought  the  Ottoman  power  nearer  to 
destruction  than  it  ever  was  brought  at  any  other  time  was  essentially 
the  same  as  one  of  the  causes  which  most  promoted  its  success.  Any 
two  sects  of  Christians,  any  two  sects  of  Mohammedans,  are  really 
separated  from  one  another  by  a  difference  which  should  seem  very 
slight  compared  with  the  difference  which  separates  both  of  them  from 
men  of  the  other  religion.  Yet  in  practice  it  is  not  always  so.  The 
Eastern  Empire  was  saved  from  Bajazet,  and  its  existence  was  pro- 
longed for  fifty  years,  because  Timour,  who  belonged  to  the  Shiah  sect 
of  Mussulmans,  waged  a  religious  war  on  the  Ottomans,  who  have 
always  belonged  to  the  Sonnite  sect.  And  in  exactly  the  same  way, 
nothing  helped  the  Ottomans  so  much  as  the  dissensions  between  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Churches.  Many  of  the  Greeks  said  that  they 
would  rather  see  the  Turks  in  St.  Sophia  than  the  Latins,  and  they 
lived  to  see  it.  And  the  Latins,  with  a  few  noble  exceptions,  could 
never  be  got  to  give  any  real  help  to  the  Greeks.  All  this  illustrates 
the  law  that  the  quarrels  of  near  kinsfolk  are  the  most  bitter  of  any. 
And  it  is  after  all  another  instance  of  this  same  law  which,  as  has 
already  been  said,  makes  Christianity  and  Islam  rival  religions  above 
all  others. 

The  Turkish  dominion  in  Europe  was  now  thoroughly  accomplished. 
For  some  years  after  the  death  of  Mohammed  the  Conqueror,  it  was 
hardly  at  all  enlarged.  The  next  Sultan,  Bajazet  the  Second,  who 
reigned  from  1481  to  1512,  was  not  a  man  of  war  nor  in  any  way  a 
man  of  genius  like  his  father.  His  character  was  an  odd  mixture  of 
sensuality  and  religious  mysticism,  with  a  decided  taste  for  science 
and  literature.  His  wars  were  confined  to  winning  a  few  points  from 
Venice,  and  to  constant  ravages  of  Hungary  and  the  other  Christian 
lands  to  the  north.  Here  we  may  mark  how  evil  deeds  produce  evil. 
The  horrible  cruelties  of  the  Turks  in  these  incursions  provoked  equal 
cruelties  on  the  part  of  the  Christians,  and  so  a  black  strife  of  retalia- 
tion went  on.  Such  a  reign  as  this  was  naturally  unsatisfactory  to  the 
ruling  race.     Bajazet  was  deposed,  and,  after  the  manner  of  deposed 


310  CONQUEST  OP  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

princes,  he  speedily  died.  Tlien  came  the  reign  of  his  son  Selim,  called 
the  Inflexible,  from  1512  to  1520.  His  was  a  reign  of  conquest,  but 
of  conquest  waged  mainly  against  Mohammedan  enemies  beyond  the 
bounds  of  Europe.  Syria  and  Egypt  were  added  to  the  Ottoman 
dominion,  and  the  Sultan  added  to  that  secular  title  the  spiritual 
authority  of  the  Caliphate.  The  real  Caliphs  of  the  Abbasside  house 
had  come  to  an  end  when  Bagdad  was  taken  by  the  Moguls ;  but  a 
line  of  nominal  Caliphs,  who  had  no  temporal  power  whatever,  had 
gone  on  in  Egypt.  From  the  last  of  these  phantoms  Selim  obtained  a 
cession  of  his  rights,  and  ever  since  the  Ottoman  Sultans  have  been 
acknowledged  as  chiefs  of  their  religion  by  all  Orthodox  Mussulmans, 
that  is  all  who  belong  to  the  Sonnite  sect  and  admit  the  lawfulness  of 
the  first  three  Caliphs.  The  Persians  and  other  Shiahs  of  course  do 
not  acknowledge  the  religious  supremacy  of  the  Sultan,  any  more  than 
the  Orthodox  and  the  Reformed  Churches  in  Christendom  acknow- 
ledge the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  The  Caliph,  it  should  be  remem- 
bered, is  Pope  and  Emperor  in  one.  For  one  who  was  already  Sultan 
thus  to  become  Caliph  was  much  the  same  as  if  in  the  West  one  who 
was  already  Emperor  had  also  become  Pope. 

The  rule  of  the  new  Caliph  was  in  some  things  worse  than  that  of 
any  of  the  Emirs  and  Sultans  who  had  gone  before  him.  In  systematic 
blood-thirstiness,  whether  towards  Christians,  towards  heretical  Mo- 
hammedans, or  towards  his  own  ministers  and  servants,  Selim  outdid 
all  who  had  gone  before  him.  But  here  comes  out  one  of  the  special 
features  of  Ottoman  rule.  The  one  check  on  the  despot's  will  is  the 
law  of  the  Prophet.  "What  the  law  of  the  Prophet  bids  on  any  par- 
ticular matter  the  Sultan  must  learn  from  the  official  expounders  of 
that  law.  And  it  must  be  said,  in  justice  to  these  Mohammedan 
doctors,  that,  if  they  have  sometimes  sanctioned  special  deeds  of  wrong, 
they  have  also  sometimes  hindered  them.  So  it  was  in  the  reign  of 
Selim.  The  Mufti  Djemali,  whose  name  deserves  to  be  remembered, 
several  times  turned  the  Sultan  from  bloody  purposes.  At  last  he 
withstood  Selim  when  he  wished  to  massacre  all  the  Christians  in  his 
dominions  and  to  forbid  the  exercise  of  the  Christian  religion.  Now 
such  a  purpose  was  utterly  contrary  to  the  text  of  the  Koran,  and  the 
act  of  Djemali  in  hindering  it  was  the  act  of  a  righteous  man  and  an 
honest  expounder  of  his  own  law.  But  be  it  remembered  that,  if  the 
question    had  been,  not  whether  Christians  should    be  massacred, 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  311 


'^  ».'--ViV>^ 


1^  ' 


'^, 


A  Mohammedan  Tomb. 

but  wlietlier  they  should  be  admitted  to  equality  with  Mohammedans. 
Djemali  must  equally  have  -withstood  the  Sultan's  purpose.  The 
contemptuous  toleration  which  the  Koran  enforces  equally  forbids 
massacres  on  the  one  side  and  real  emancipation  on  the  other. 

The  next  reign  was  a  long  and  famous  one,  that  of  Soliman  I.,  called 
the  Magnificent  and  the  Lawgiver,  who  reigned  from  1520  to  1566. 
Mohammed  had  established  the  Empire;  Soliman  had  to  extend  it. 
But  Soliman  was  a  nobler  spirit  than  Mohammed.  Under  any  other 
system,  he  would  have  been  a  good  as  well  as  a  great  ruler.  And 
allowing  for  some  of  those  occasional  crimes  which  seem  inseparable 


312  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

from  every  Eastern  despotism — crimes  which  in  his  case  chiefly 
touched  his  own  ministers  and  his  own  family — we  may  say  that  he 
was  a  good  prince  according  to  his  light.  The  Ottoman  Empire  was 
now  at  the  height  of  its  power.  Its  army  was  the  strongest  and  best 
disciplined  of  armies.  But  the  Christian  nations  were  now  growing 
up  to  a  level  with  their  Mohammedan  enemies.  Even  the  long  and 
cruel  wars  among  the  Christian  powers  themselves,  while  they  hindered 
those  powers  from  joining  together  to  withstand  the  Turk,  schooled 
them  in  the  end  severally  to  cope  with  him.  Soliman  took  Rhodes 
early  in  his  reign,  and  the  Knights  withdrew  to  Malta.  He  again 
besieged  them  at  Malta  in  the  last  years  of  his  reign,  but  this  time 
without  success.  But  the  greatest  of  Soliman's  victories  and  the  most 
instructive  for  our  purpose,  are  those  which  he  won  m  Hungary.  At 
the  beginning  of  his  reign,  in  1521,  he  took  Belgrade,  the  key  to 
Hungary.  Five  years  later,  the  last  of  the  separate  Kings  of  Hun- 
gary, Louis  II.,  died  in  battle  against  the  Turks  at  Mohacs.  After 
that  the  crown  of  Hungary  was  for  a  long  while  disputed  between 
rival  Kings.  Thus  at  once  on  Louis's  death,  John  Zapolya,  Prince  of 
Transylvania,  and  Ferdmand  of  Austria,  who  was  afterwards  Emperor, 
were  both  chosen  by  different  parties.  Soliman  found  it  to  his  interest 
to  support  Zapolya ;  he  even  besieged  Vienna,  though  in  vain.  The 
end  was  that  the  Emperors  kept  that  part  of  Hungary  which  bordered 
on  Austria  and  their  other  dominions,  while  princes  who  were  vassals 
of  the  Turk  reigned  in  Transylvania  and  the  eastern  part  of  the 
kingdom.  But  the  Turk  himself  took  a  larger  share  of  Hungary  than 
either,  and  a  pasha  ruled  at  Buda,  as  well  as  at  Belgrade.  Here  too 
the  progress  of  the  Turks  was  helped  by  disunion  among  the  Christians. 
Just  as  further  south  the  Turks  profited  by  the  dissensions  between 
the  Catholics  and  the  Orthodox,  so  in  Hungary  they  profited  by  the 
dissensions  between  the  Catholics  and  the  Protestants.  These  last 
were  of  various  sects,  but  all  alike  were  persecuted  by  the  bigoted 
Austrian  Kings. 

Besides  the  conquests  of  Soliman  in  Hungary,  the  relations  between 
the  Turk  and  the  two  principalities  of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia  were 
now  definitely  settled.  They  were  to  be  vassal  states,  paying  tribute; 
but  the  Sultan  was  to  have  no  part  in  their  internal  government.  No 
Turk  was  to  live  in  the  country,  and  the  princes  were  to  be  freely 
chosen  by  the  nobles  and  clergy  of  the  principalities.     This  system 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 


313 


An  Eastern  Band  of  Musicians. 

lasted  from  1536  to  1711.  Then  the  Sultans  took  to  appointing  and 
deposing  the  princes  at  pleasure.  They  appointed  Fanariot  Greeks; 
and  so,  strangely  enough,  the  Greeks,  bondmen  in  their  own  land, 
became  rulers  in  another. 

Splendid  as  was  the  character  and  the  rule  of  Soliman,  still  it  is 
from  his  day  that  both  Turkish  and  Christian  writers  date  the  decline 
of  the  Turkish  power.  Soliman  ceased  to  manage  all  state  affairs  so 
directly  as  earlier  Sultans  had  done.  The  power  of  the  Viziers  and 
the  influence  of  the  women  increased.  The  taxes  were  farmed  out  to 
Jews,  Greeks,  and  others,  a  system  which  always  at  once  lessens  the 
revenue  of  the  sovereign  and  increases  the  burthens  of  the  subject. 
Conquest  brought  with  it  luxury,  love  of  ease,  love  of  wealth.  The 
soldiers  fought  less  for  victory  than  for  plunder.  Certain  it  is  that, 
while  up  to  Soliman's  time  the  Ottoman  power  had  steadily  advanced, 
after  his  time  it  began  to  go  down.  The  Turkish  lords  of  Xew  Rome, 
like  their  Roman  and  Greek  predecessors,  had  their  times  of  revival, 


314  CONQUEST  OP  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

their  days  of  unexpected  conquest.     But,  on  the  whole,  the  Ottoman 
power  now  steadily  declined. 

After  Soliman  came  a  second  Selim,  known  as  the  Drunkard,  a 
name  which  marks  the  little  heed  which  he  paid  to  the  precepts  of  his 
own  law.  His  short  reign,  from  1566  to  1574,  was  marked  by  the 
first  great  reverse  of  the  Ottoman  arms.  This  was  the  overthrow  of 
the  Turkish  fleet  by  the  fleets  of  Spain  and  of  Venice  in  the  great 
fight  of  Lepanto  in  1571.  It  has  been  often  said,  and  said  with 
perfect  truth,  that  though  the  Tnrk  was  defeated  in  the  battle,  yet  he 
had  really  the  better  in  the  war.  For  the  Turk  lost  only  his  fleet, 
which  might  be  replaced,  while  the  Venetians  lost  the  great  island  of 
Cyprus,  which  has  ever  since  formed  part  of  the  Turkish  dominions. 
But  the  battle  of  Lepanto  none  the  less  marks  the  turning-point  in  the 
history  of  the  Ottoman  power.  It  broke  the  spell,  and  taught  men 
that  the  Turks  could  be  conquered.  Hitherto,  though  they  had  failed 
in  particular  enterprises,  their  career  had  been  one  of  constant  advance. 
Now,  for  the  first  time,  they  were  utterly  defeated  in  a  great  battle. 
And,  with  the  military  power  of  the  Ottomans,  their  moral  power 
decayed  also.  The  line  of  the  great  Sultans  had  come  to  an  end. 
Several  of  the  later  Sultans  were  men  of  vigor  and  ability ;  but  the 
succession  of  great  rulers  which,  unless  we  except  Bajazet  II.,  had 
gone  on  without  a  break  from  Othman  to  Soliman  the  Lawgiver,  now 
stopped.  The  power  of  the  Sultans  over  their  distant  dominions  was 
lessened,  while  the  power  of  the  pashas  grew.  The  discipline  of  the 
Ottoman  armies  was  relaxed,  and  the  courts  of  most  Sultans  became 
a  scene  of  corruption  of  every  kind.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century 
men  marked  the  decay  of  the  Turkish  power,  and  expected  that  it 
would  presently  fall  to  pieces.  Why  did  it  not  fall  ?  The  growth  of 
the  Turkish  power  is  easily  explained.  A  succession  of  such  men  a3 
the  early  Sultans,  wielding  such  a  force  as  the  Janissaries,  could  not 
fail  to  conquer.  "Why  their  power  lasted  so  long  after  it  began  to 
decay  may  seem,  at  first  sight,  less  easy  to  explain.  But  the  causes 
are  not  very  far  to  seek.  The  preservation  of  the  same  ruling  family, 
and  that  a  family  whose  head  is  not  only  Sultan  of  the  Ottomans,  but 
is  deemed  by  Orthodox  Mussulmans  to  be  the  Caliph  of  the  Prophet, 
alone  counts  for  a  good  deal.  INIore  important  still  has  been  the 
possession  of  the  Imperial  city.  New  Rome,  under  her  elder  lords, 
held  on  under  greater  dangers  than  have  ever  threatened  their  Otto- 


CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  315 

man  successors.  In  quite  late  times  the  Turkish  power  has  been  propped 
up  by  the  wicked  policy  of  the  governments  of  Western  Europe.  But, 
long  before  that  policy  began,  men  had  begun  to  ask  why  the  Ottoman 
power  did  not  fall.  The  possession  of  Constantinople  is  of  itself 
perhaps  reason  enough.  In  the  case  of  the  later  Byzantine  Emperors, 
the  possession  of  Constantinople  prolonged  the  existence  of  a  power 
which  otherwise  must  have  fallen,  and  whose  prolonged  existence  did 
no  good  to  the  world.  The  case  is  exactly  the  same  with  the  dominion 
of  the  Ottomans. 

"We  have  thus  traced  the  growth  of  the  Ottoman  power,  from  its  first 
small  beginnings  till  it  had  swelled  into  a  vast  dominion,  first  in  Asia 
and  then  in  Europe.  It  had  grown  to  that  extent  of  power  by  the 
great  qualities  of  a  long  succession  of  princes,  whose  skill  in  the  craft 
of  conquerors  and  rulers  sometimes  goes  far  to  make  us  forget  their 
crimes.  And,  in  the  case  of  the  Ottoman  Sultans,  it  is  not  merely 
their  personal  crimes  that  we  are  tempted  to  forget.  Their  personal 
crimes  may  be  paralleled  in  the  history  of  other  times  and  other 
nations.  But  there  has  never  been  in  European  history,  perhaps  not 
in  the  history  of  the  whole  world,  any  other  power  which  was  in 
everything  so  thoroughly  a  fabric  of  wrong  as  the  power  of  the  Otto- 
mans. There  has  been  no  other  dominion  of  the  same  extent  lasting 
for  so  long  a  time,  which  has  been  in  the  same  way  wholly  grounded 
on  the  degradation  and  oppression  of  the  mass  of  those  who  were 
under  its  rule.  Others  among  the  great  empires  of  the  world  have 
done  much  wrong  and  caused  much  suffering ;  but  they  have  for  the 
most  part  done  something  else  besides  doing  wrong  and  causing  suflTer- 
ing.  Most  of  the  other  powers  of  the  world,  at  all  events  most  of  those 
which  play  a  part  in  the  history  of  Europe,  if  they  had  a  dark  side, 
had  also  a  bright  one.  To  take  the  great  example  of  all,  the  estal)lish- 
ment  of  the  Roman  dominion  carried  with  it  much  of  wrong,  much  of 
sufiering,  much  wiping  out  of  older  national  life.  But  the  Empire  of 
Rome  had  its  good  side  also.  If  Rome  destroyed,  she  also  created.  If 
she  conquered,  she  also  civilized ;  if  she  oppressed,  she  also  educated, 
and  in  the  end  evangelized.  She  handed  on  to  the  growing  nations 
of  Europe  the  precious  inheritance  of  her  tongue,  her  law,  and  her 
religion.  The  rule  of  the  Ottoman  Turk  has  no  such  balance  of  good 
to  set  against  its  evil.  His  mission  has  been  simply  a  mission  of 
destruction  and  oppression.     From  him  the  subject  nations  could  gain 


316  CONQUEST  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

nothing  and  learn  nothing,  except  how  to  endure  wrong  patiently. 
His  rule  was  not  merely  the  rule  of  strangers  over  nations  in  their 
own  land.  It  was  the  rule  of  the  barbarian  over  the  civilized  man, 
the  rule  of  the  unbeliever  over  the  Christian.  The  direct  results  of 
Turkish  conquest  have  been  that,  while  the  nations  of  Western  Europe 
have  enjoyed  five  hundred  years  of  progress,  the  nations  of  South- 
eastern lEurope  have  suffered  five  hundred  years  of  bondage  and  of  all 
that  follows  on  bondage.  The  rule  of  the  Turk,  by  whatever  diplomatic 
euphemisms  it  may  be  called,  means  the  bondage  and  degradation  of 
all  who  come  beneath  his  rule.  Such  bondage  and  degradation  is  not 
an  incidental  evil  which  may  be  reformed ;  it  is  the  essence  of  the 
whole  system,  the  groundwork  on  which  the  Ottoman  power  is  built. 
The  power  which  Othman  be^an,  which  Mohammed  the  Conqueror 
firmly  established,  which  Soliman  the  Lawgiver  raised  to  its  highest 
pitch  of  power  and  splendor,  is,  beyond  all  powers  that  the  world  ever 
saw,  the  embodiment  of  wrong.  In  the  most  glorious  regions  of  the 
■world,  the  rule  of  the  Turk  has  been  the  abomination  of  desolation, 
and  nothing  else.  Out  of  it  no  direct  good  can  come ;  indirect  good 
can  come  of  it  in  one  shape  only.  The  natives  of  Southeastern  Europe 
came  under  the  yoke  through  disunion.  Greek,  Slave,  Frank,  could 
not  be  brought  to  combine  against  the  Turk.  Orthodox  and  Catholic 
could  not  be  brought  to  combine  against  the  Mussulman.  If  the  long 
ages  during  which  those  nations  have  paid  the  penalty  of  disunion 
and  intolerance  shall  have  taught  them  lessons  of  union  and  tolerance, 
they  may  have  gained  something  indirectly,  even  from  five  hundred 
years  of  Turkish  bondage.  We  have  thus  far  traced  the  steps  by 
which  they  come  under  the  yoke.  We  have  now  to  trace  the  steps  by 
which,  on  the  one  hand,  the  yoke  was  made  harder,  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  hopes  began  to  dawn  which  promised  that  the  yoke  might 
one  day  be  thrown  ofi".  We  have  in  this  chapter  traced  the  gradual 
course  of  the  growth  of  the  Ottoman  power ;  in  the  next  chapter  we 
must  go  on  to  trace  the  gradual  course  of  its  decline. 


DECAY  OF  THE   TURKISH  POWER.  317 

CHAPTER      XVIII. 

DECAY  OF  THE  TURKISH  POWER 

Allowing  for  occasional  fits  of  revived  energy,  the  Ottoman  power 
went  steadily  down  after  the  time  of  Soliman  the  Lawgiver.  It  went 
down  in  two  ways.  Though  territory  was  still  sometimes  won,  yet  on 
the  whole  the  Ottoman  frontiers  fell  back.  After  Soliman  no  lasting 
conquests  of  any  importance  were  made,  except  those  of  the  islands  of 
Cyprus  and  Crete.  The  frontier  on  the  north  towards  Hungary,  and 
in  later  times  towards  Russia,  has  steadily  gone  back.  And,  last  of 
all,  in  our  own  age  large  parts  of  the  Ottoman  territory  have  been 
separated  from  it  to  form  distinct  states,  either  tributary  or  wholly 
independent.  In  these  ways  the  extent  of  the  Ottoman  dominion  on 
the  map  has  lessened  wonderfully  indeed  since  the  days  of  Soliman. 
And,  during  the  greater  part  of  the  times  with  which  we  are  dealing, 
the  power  of  the  Sultans  was  getting  less  and  less  in  the  dominions 
which  were  left  to  them.  The  central  administration  became  more 
and  more  corrupt,  more  under  the  influence  of  ministers,  favorites,  and 
women  than  under  the  authority  of  the  Sultans  themselves.  The 
Pashas  or  Governors  of  provinces  became  more  and  more  independent, 
and  in  some  cases  they  made  their  offices  practically  hereditary.  In 
some  parts  indeed,  especially  toward  the  end  of  the  last  century,  when 
the  power  of  the  Sultans  was  at  its  lowest,  there  was  utter  anarchy 
without  any  control  of  any  kind.  Through  the  seventeenth  century 
especially,  we  may  mark  the  short  reigns  of  the  Sultans,  as  contrasted 
with  the  long  reigns  of  most  of  the  great  Sultans.  Many  of  them  were 
deposed  and  murdered,  as  they  have  again  begun  to  be  in  our  own 
times.  Nor  must  we  forget,  as  one  cause  of  decay,  the  wretched 
education,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  of  the  Sultans  themselves.  Kept  in  a 
kind  of  imprisonment  till  they  came  to  the  throne,  with  every  means 
of  enjoying  themselves,  but  with  no  means  of  learning  the  duties  of 
rulers,  they  came  forth  from  prison  to  be  clothed  with  absolute  power. 
One  is  really  inclined  to  wonder  that  they  were  not  even  worse  than 
they  were,  and  that  any  of  them  showed  any  sign  of  virtue  or  ability 
of  any  kind. 


318 


DECAY  OF  THE   TURKISH  POWER. 


A  Turkish  Bazaar. 
This  may  pass  as  a  general  picture  of  the  character  of  Ottoman 
rule  during  the  days  of  the  decay  of  the  Ottoman  power.  But  it 
concerns  us  more  to  know  Avhat  was  the  effect  of  this  state  of  things  on 
the  nations  which  the  Turks  held  in  bondage.  It  must  not  be  thought 
that  the  decay  of  the  power  of  the  Sultans  brought  any  direct  or 
immediate  relief  to  the  subject  nations.    Some  indirect  advantages 


DECAY  OF  THE   TURKISH  POWER.  319 

they  did  gain  from  it ;  but  in  the  main  the  weakening  of  the  power  of 
the  Sultans,  the  general  decay  of  their  empire,  meant  increased 
oppression ;  it  meant  heavier  bondage  to  be  borne  by  their  Christian 
subjects.  The  great  Sultans,  as  a  rule,  were  not  men  who  delighted 
in  oppression  for  oppression's  sake.  Their  personal  crimes  mainly 
touched  those  who  were  personally  near  to  them ;  they  had  wisdom 
enough  to  see  that  they  would  gain  nothing  by  making  the  bondage 
of  the  conquered  nations  intolerable.  In  all  despotisms  there  is  more 
chance  of  justice  and  mercy  from  the  head  despot  than  from  his 
subordinates,  and  many  a  tyrant  has  deemed  tyranny  a  privilege  of 
the  crown  which  no  subordinate  might  share.  As  the  power  of  the 
Sultans  grew  weaker,  the  subject  nations  lost  their  one  chance  of 
redress.  In  such  a  state  of  things  grinding  local  oppression  at  the 
hands  of  a  crowd  of  petty  tyrants  takes  the  place  of  the  equal,  if  stern, 
rule  of  the  common  master  of  all.  Under  such  grinding  local  oppres- 
sion, lands  were  untilled,  houses  were  uninhabited,  the  population  of 
the  country  sensibly  lessened.  But,  as  the  demands  both  of  central 
and  of  local  rulers  did  not  lessen,  the  burdens  of  those  who  survived 
were  only  made  the  heavier.  Such,  with  a  few  moments  of  relief,  has 
been  the  general  state  of  things  in  Southeastern  Europe  since  the 
decline  of  the  empire  began. 

The  beginning  of  better  times,  or  at  least  of  brighter  hopes,  for  the 
subject  nations,  may  be  dated  from  the  latter  years  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  was  mainly  owing  to  two  causes,  the  remission  of  the 
tribute  of  children  and  the  advance  of  the  Christian  powers  at  the 
expense  of  the  Turk.  As  long  as  the  tribute  of  children  was  levied, 
the  subject  nations  really  could  not  stir.  From  the  time  when  it 
ceased,  even  when  there  was  no  actual  improvement  in  their  condition, 
there  was  the  beginning  of  hope.  Every  success  gained  by  any 
Christian  power  against  their  masters  raised  the  hopes  and  heightened 
the  spirit  of  those  who  were  under  the  yoke.  Herein  comes  out  the 
main  difference  between  a  national  government  and  the  rule  of 
strangers.  When  any  Christian  power  was  at  war  with  the  Turk,  the 
enslaved  nations  looked  on  the  enemies  of  the  Turk,  not  as  their 
enemies,  but  as  their  friends.  Every  failure  on  the  part  of  their 
masters,  every  danger  that  threatened  their  masters,  gave  them  a 
hope  of  deliverance.  Those  who  made  war  on  the  Turk  seemed,  not 
the  enemies  of  their  country,  but  its  friends.    The  subject  nations 


320  DECA  Y  OF  THE    TURKISH  PO  WER. 

have  often  been  very  badly  treated  by  Christian  powers  who  professed 
to  be  their  friends.  Hopes  have  often  been  kindled,  promises  have 
often  been  made,  which  were  never  fulfilled.  Still,  all  these  causes 
joined  together  to  stir  up  men's  minds,  and  to  raise  them  from  the 
state  of  utter  wretchedDCss  and  despair  under  which  they  had  been 
bowed  down  for  so  many  generations. 

From  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  Turks  had  constant 
wars  with  the  neighboring  Christian  powers,  wars  in  which,  though 
the  Turks  sometimes  won  victories  and  recovered  provinces,  their 
dominion  on  the  whole  went  back.  The  chief  powers  with  which  they 
had  to  strive  up  to  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  the 
commonwealth  of  Venice  and  the  kingdom  of  Hungary,  then  held  by 
the  Emperors  of  the  House  of  Austria.  They  had  also  wars  with 
Poland,  when  the  Polish  kingdom,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries,  stretched  much  further  to  the  southeast  than  it  did  before 
or  after.  And  lastly,  they  have  had  wars  with  Russia,  which,  for  a 
long  time  past,  have  been  of  greater  moment  than  any  of  the  others. 
But,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  chief  wars  were  those  with  Venice  and  with 
the  Emperors  in  their  character  of  Kings  of  Hungary.  Both  the 
Venetian  and  the  Hungarian  wars  greatly  affected  the  interests  of  the 
subject  nations.  The  Hungarian  Avars  chiefly  affected  the  Slaves,  and 
to  some  extent  the  Roumans.  The  Venetian  wars  mainly  affected  the 
Greeks,  and  to  some  extent  also  the  Slaves.  The  possessions  of 
Venice  in  the  East  consisted  of  islands  and  points  or  lines  of  coast. 
These  might  easily  be  lost  and  won,  as  they  often  were,  without  the 
loss  or  gain  of  one  settlement  greatly  affecting  any  other.  But  the 
kingdom  of  Hungary  had,  before  the  time  of  Soliman,  lain  as  a  com- 
pact mass,  with  a  continuous  frontier,  to  the  north  of  the  Ottoman 
dominions.  And,  as  the  Ottoman  frontier  went  back,  Hungary  grad- 
ually took  that  character  again.  Along  the  Danube  and  its  great 
tributaries,  sometimes  the  power  of  the  Emporors,  sometimes  the 
power  of  the  Sultans,  advanced.  But  on  the  whole  the  Ottoman 
frontier  fell  back.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  map  how  great  a  territory 
has  been  won  back  from  the  Turks  since  the  days  of  Soliman.  On 
the  other  hand,  though  the  Venetians  gained  some  successes,  though 
they  often  won  back  lands  which  they  had  lost  and  sometimes  even 
won  new  lands,  still,  on  the  whole,  the  Venetian  power  fell  back,  and 


Edhem  Pasha,  Grand  Vizier  of  Turkey. 


DEC  A  V  OF  THE    TURKISH  PO  WER. 


321 


the  Ottoman  power  advanced.  In  both  cases,  the  change  of  frontier 
between  the  Turk  and  Venice  or  between  the  Turk  and  the  Emperor 
was,  for  the  Greek  and  Slavonic  inhabitants  of  the  disputed  lands, 
a  mere  change  of  masters.  Still  there  was  the  difference  between 
civilized  and  barbarian  masters.  The  rule  of  Venice  in  her  distant 
possessions  was  bad,  and  often  oppressive.  It  could  awaken  no  kind 
of  national  or  loyal  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  subjects  of  the  Common- 
wealth, yet  it  was  not  brutal  and  bloody,  like  that  of  the  Turks.  And^ 
on  the  Hungarian  frontier,  when  the  Austrian  kings  ceased  to  per- 
21 


322  DECA  Y  OF  THE    TURKISH  PO  WER. 

secute,  instead  of  Hungarian  Protestants  welcoming  the  Turk  as  a 
deliverer,  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Turk  welcomed  every  success 
of  the  imperial  arms  bringing  deliverance  to  themselves. 

Besides  Venice  and  Hungary,  the  Turks  had  wars  with  Poland 
and  Russia,  of  which  we  shall  say  more  presently.  Notwithstanding 
some  occasional  successes,  the  Turkish  power  gave  way  at  all  these 
points.  During  this  period  wars  with  the  Turks  were  going  on  at 
various  points  from  Peloponnesos  to  the  mouth  of  the  Don.  But  the 
war  in  Hungary  formed  the  centre  of  all.  This  was  now  the  region 
where  the  great  struggle  between  Turks  and  Christians  was  waged, 
and  in  that  region  at  this  time  the  Turkish  frontier  steadily  went 
back.  The  wars  of  this  time  were  like  a  vast  battle,  in  which  Venice 
at  one  end,  Poland  and  Russia  at  the  other,  were  attacking  and 
defending  this  and  that  outpost,  while  the  main  struggle  went  on  in 
the  lands  upon  the  Danube. 

We  have  seen  that  the  conquests  of  Soliman  left  only  a  small  part 
of  Hungary  to  its  nominal  king  the  Emperor.  The  greater  part  of 
the  laud  was  ruled  by  a  Turkish  Pasha,  while  Transylvania  and  part 
of  Hungary  itself  formed  a  vassal  principality.  Tho  state  of  things 
in  these  lands  often  changed,  and  there  were  several  wars  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  But  on  the  whole,  the  Turks 
kept  their  predominance  in  Hungary.  In  the  latter  half  of  the 
seventeenth  century  things  began  to  change.  In  1663,  while  the 
siege  of  Candia  was  still  going  on,  when  Mohammed  IV.  was  Sultan 
and  Leopold  the  First  was  Emperor  and  Kang  of  Hungary,  a  war 
began  in  which  for  the  first  time  the  Imperial  arms  had  the  advantage. 
The  war  was  famous  for  the  great  battle  of  Saint  Gotthard,  fought  in 
1664,  in  which  the  imperial  general  Motecuculi  won  a  great  victory 
over  the  Turks  under  the  Vizier  Koprili.  This  battle  was  by  land 
much  the  same  as  Lepanta  was  by  sea.  It  was  the  first  great  over- 
throw of  the  Turks;  it  therefore  marks  the  turning-point  in  their 
history,  for  it  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  series  of  victories  over  the 
Turks  on  the  part  both  of  the  Emperors  and  of  other  Christian  powers. 

The  battle  was  followed  by  a  truce  for  twenty  years  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Turks.  MeauAvhile  the  affairs  of  the  Cossacks,  the 
wild  people  of  the  border-lands  between  Poland,  Russia,  and  the 
Turkish  va-ssal  states  north  of  the  Euxine,  led  to  wars  both  with 
Poland  and  Russia.     The  Polish  war  lasted  from  1672  to  1676.     In 


DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER.  323 

this,  though  the  famous  John  Sobieski  won  several  brilliant  victories 
both  before  and  after  his  election  to  the  Polish  crown,  yet  Poland  lost 
the  strong  town  of  Kamenetz,  and  the  whole  province  of  Podolia.  In 
this  war  both  Sultan  Mohammed  and  his  Minister  Koprili  had  a 
share.  Its  issue  is  instructive.  Sobieski  won  battles,  but  the  Turks 
kept  Podolia.  For  the  Turks  were  just  now  ruled,  in  the  person  of 
Koprili,  by  a  single  wise  and  strong  will,  while,  though  the  Poles  are 
one  of  the  bravest  nations  on  earth,  yet  the  weak  and  disorderly 
nature  of  their  government  made  them  constantly  lose  in  other  ways 
what  they  won  in  fighting.  In  the  Russian  war,  the  first  war  of  any 
moment  between  Russia  and  the  Turk,  the  Sultan,  who  had  just  won 
a  superiority  over  the  Cossacks  of  Ukraine  from  the  Poles,  lost  it 
again  to  the  Russians.  But  the  real  beginnings  of  the  struggle 
between  Russia  and  the  Turk  come  a  few  years  later,  though  still 
within  the  times  with  which  we  are  dealing.  It  will  be  better  to  go 
back  to  what  were  at  the  time  the  more  important  wars  in  Hungary 
and  Greece. 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  religious  intolerance  of  the  Austrian 
Kings  in  Hungary  gave  a  great  advantage  to  the  Turks,  and  that  it 
often  made  the  Protestants  of  Hungary  think,  with  good  reason,  that 
the  rule  of  the  Turk  was  the  less  heavy  bondage  of  the  two.  Ko  king 
did  himself  and  his  subjects  more  harm  in  this  way  than  the  Emperor 
Leopold  I.  His  persecutions,  and  the  revolts  to  which  they  led,  laid 
not  only  Hungary  but  the  Empire  itself  open  to  the  Turks.  Moham- 
med IV.  was  still  Sultan ;  but  he  had  lost  his  wise  minister  Koprili, 
and  the  present  vizier,  Kara  Mustapha,  was  fond  of  planning  enterpri- 
ses too  great  for  his  power  to  carry  out.  It  was  he  who  had  con- 
ducted the  unsuccessful  war  with  Russia;  now  in  1682  he  undertook, 
not  only  to  complete  the  conquest  of  Hungary,  but  once  more,  like 
Soliman,  to  invade  Germany  itself.  In  1683  the  Turks  again  besieged 
Vienna,  and  the  city  was  saved,  not  at  all  by  the  Emperor,  but  by 
John  Sobieski  and  his  Poles.  Austria  and  Hungary  were  in  truth 
delivered  from  the  Turk  by  the  swords  of  a  Slavonic  people,  the 
people  of  a  kingdom  which  within  a  hundred  years  Austria  helped 
to  dismember.  A  war  now  went  on,  which  lasted  till  1698.  The 
Turks  were  gradually  driven  out  of  Hungary.  In  this  war  Sobieski 
at  the  beginning,  and  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy  in  its  later  stages, 
won  some  of  their  most  famous  victories.    It  might  at  the  time  be 


324  DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 

doubted  whether  Hungary  gained  much  by  being  delivered  from  the 
Turk,  only  to  be  put  under  such  a  king  as  Leopold.  No  doubt 
Hungary  has  had  much  to  complain  of  at  the  hands  of  her  Austrian 
kings ;  but  the  same  rule  applies  here  as  everywhere  else.  The 
Christian  government  can  amend  and  reform ;  the  Mohammedan  gov- 
ernment cannot.  During  the  reign  of  the  next  Sultan,  Solimau  II., 
came  the  administration  of  another  Koprili,  the  one  who  has  been 
already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  very  few  Turkish  rulers  who  ever 
really  thought  of  the  welfare  of  the  Christians  under  Turkish  rule. 

While  the  centre,  as  we  may  call  it,  of  the  general  Christian  army 
was  thus  victoriously  bearing  the  main  brunt  of  the  strife  in  Hungary, 
much  was  also  done  by  what  we  may  call  the  two  wings,  the  ancient 
power  of  Venice,  the  seemingly  new,  but  really  only  revived,  power 
of  Russia.  It  was  now  that  Venice  began  to  play  a  great  part  on  the 
mainland  of  Greece.  We  have  seen  that  Peloponn^sos  had  wholly 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  the  greater  part  under  Mohammed 
and  the  little  that  was  left  by  him  under  Soliman.  But  in  some  of 
the  wilder  parts  of  the  country,  as  in  the  peninsula  of  Maina,  the 
Christians  long  kept  a  rude  independence.  It  was  not  till  1614  that 
the  people  of  Maina  were  compelled  to  pay  the  haratch,  the  tribute 
by  which  the  non-Mussulman  buys  the  right  to  toleration  at  the  hands 
of  the  Mussulman.  The  Greek  coasts  w^ere  often  visited  by  Spanish 
and  other  European  ships  in  their  w^ars  with  the  Turk,  so  that  the 
Greek  inhabitants  really  suffered  instead  of  their  masters.  At  last, 
in  the  year  after  the  siege  of  Vienna,  when  the  Turkish  power  was 
giving  way  in  Hungary,  it  seemed  a  good  time  for  Venice  to  strike  a 
blow.  So  in  1684  the  great  Venetian  commander,  Francesco  Morosini, 
who  was  chosen  Doge  in  the  course  of  the  war,  began  the  conquest  of 
the  peninsula.  It  was  thought  that  Peloponnesos  would  be  more 
easily  held  than  Crete.  The  Venetian  forces,  with  help  from  other 
parts  of  Europe,  conquered  all  Peloponnesos.  The  'war  also  went  on 
in  Attica  and  Euboia :  Athens  was  taken,  and  it  was  in  this  siege  that 
the  Parthenon  was  ruined.  It  had  been  a  church  under  the  Emper- 
ors and  under  the  Frank  Eukes;  but  the  Turks  had  turned  it  into  a 
powder  magazine,  and  a  falling  shell  caused  an  explosion  Avhich  broke 
it  down.  But  the  Venetians  were  not  able  to  keep  anything  beyond 
the  isthmus;  Peloponnesos  itself  they  did  keep  for  a  while.  Thus 
a  large  part  of  Greece  was  placed  under  a  government  which  if  not 


DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 


325 


«%^ 


national,  was  at  least  civilized.  The  Greeks  at  this  time  had  no  hope 
for  anything  better  than  a  change  of  masters.  But  the  Venetian  was 
at  least  a  better  master  than  the  Turk:  Peloponnesos  passed  under 
political  bondage  to  the  republic;  but  its  people  were  saved  from 
personal  oppression  and  degradation. 

But  meanwhile  events  were  happening  in  what  we  may  call  the  other 
wing  of  the  great  battle,  which  were  the  beginning  of  much  that  has 


326  DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 

gone  on  with  increasing  importance  down  to  our  own  time.  This  is  the 
beginning  of  those  long  wars  between  Russia  and  the  Turk  at  which 
we  have  already  glanced.  At  the  time  which  we  have  now  reached, 
two  of  the  great  seats  of  the  Tartar  power,  at  Kasan  and  at  Astrakhan, 
had  long  been  held  by  Russia.  But  the  Tartars  of  the  peninsula  of 
Crimea  and  the  neighboring  lands  still  remained.  And,  as  long  as  they 
remained,  Russia,  whose  fleet  had  in  old  times  sailed  over  the  Euxine 
to  attack  Constantinople,  was  thoroughly  cut  off  from  that  sea.  The 
Khans  of  the  Crimea  had  been  vassals  of  the  Sultans  ever  since  the 
time  of  Mohammed  the  Conqueror,  and  their  affairs,  and  those  of  the 
Cossacks  to  the  north  of  them,  led  to  disputes  between  Russia,  Poland, 
and  the  Turks.  Hitherto  the  Euxine  had  been  wholly  under  the 
power  of  the  Turks,  and  was  chiefly  used  for  their  trade  in  slaves. 
No  European  nation  had  had  any  commerce  there  since  Mohammed 
the  Conqueror  had  taken  the  Genoese  possessions  in  the  Crimea.  The 
object  of  Russia  was  now  for  a  long  time  to  get  free  access  to  the  sea, 
which  the  Turks  of  course  tried  to  keep  to  themselves.  This  strife 
was  begun  when  Peter  the  Great  took  Azov  in  1696.  For  a  long 
while  after  that  time  the  possession  of  Azov,  as  the  key  of  the  Euxine, 
was  the  great  point  of  contention  between  Russia  and  the  Turks.  It 
was  disputed  with  fluctuating  success  during  a  great  part  of  the  next 
century. 

Thus,  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Turks  had  been  at 
war  with  all  their  Christian  neighbors,  and  they  had  lost  territory  at 
all  points  except  one.  They  had  gained  Podolia;  but  they  had  lost 
Peloponnesos,  Hungary,  and  Azov.  Most  of  these  territories  they 
formally  gave  up  by  treaties  in  1699  and  1700.  The  peace  of  Carlo- 
witz  in  1699  marks  a  point  in  the  history,  or  more  truly  in  the  decline^ 
of  the  Ottoman  power.  Up  to  this  time  the  Sultans  had  deemed 
themselves  the  superiors  of  all  European  princes,  and  had  treated 
their  ambassadors  with  great  haughtiness.  Sometimes  they  imprisoned 
ambassadors,  and  dealt  in  other  ways  contrary  to  the  received  law  of 
nations.  Strictly  following  the  law  of  their  own  Prophet,  they  would 
not  make  peace  with  any  Christian  power;  they  would  only  grant 
truces.  Now  in  the  reign  of  Mustapha  II.,  they  were  driven  to  treat 
with  European  powers  on  equal  terms,  and  formally  to  give  up  terri- 
tory. They  formally  ceded  Peloponnesos  to  Venice,  and  gave  back 
Podolia  to  Poland.     But,  oddly  enough,  it  was  not  a  peace  forever, 


DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER.  327 

but  only  a  truce  for  twenty-five  years,  which  was  concluded  between 
the  Turk  and  the  power  which  had  won  most  back  from  him.  By  this 
truce  the  Turks  gave  up  all  Hungary,  except  the  district  called  the 
Banat  of  Temesvar,  with  Transylvania  and  the  greater  part  of  Sla- 
vonia.  This  treaty,  it  should  be  remarked,  was  concluded  under  the 
mediation  of  England  and  the  United  Provinces.  This  shows  that 
we  have  now  got  to  the  beginnings  of  modern  diplomacy.  Russia 
was  not  a  party  to  the  Peace  of  Carlowitz;  but  she  concluded  an 
armistice  for  two  years,  which  in  the  next  year  was  changed  into  a 
thirty  years'  truce.     By  this  truce  Russia  kept  AzoY. 

The  Turkish  power  thus  received  one  of  the  heaviest  blows  that  was 
ever  dealt  to  it.  From  that  blow  it  has  never  really  recovered.  The 
power  of  the  Turk  has  never  again  been  what  it  was  before  the  wars 
which  were  ended  by  the  Peace  of  Carlowitz.  But  we  have  already 
said  that  the  Ottoman  power,  just  like  the  Byzantine  power  before  it, 
had  times  of  revival,  which  alternated  with  times  of  decay.  So 
through  a  great  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Turks  were  still 
able  to  win  victories,  and,  though  they  won  no  new  ground,  they 
sometimes  won  back  a  good  deal  of  what  they  had  lost.  There  soon 
were  wars  again  between  the  Turks  and  all  their  European  enemies, 
except  Poland,  whose  day  of  greatness  has  now  come  quite  to  an  end. 
War  with  Russia  broke  out  again  in  1711,  and  this  time  the  Turks 
had  the  better.  By  the  treaty  of  the  Pruth,  Azov  was  restored  to  the 
Turk.  This  was  followed  by  the  Turkish  conquest  of  Peloponnesos, 
Tenos,  and  whatever  else  Venice  held  on  the  Eastern  side  of  Greece 
in  1715.  The  Turks  went  on  to  threaten  Corfu  and  Dalmatia;  but 
in  1716  the  Emperor  Charles  W.,  who  of  course  was  also  King  of  Hun- 
gary, made  an  alliance  with  Venice.  Charles  VI.  was  more  powerful 
than  any  Emperor  had  been  since  Charles  V.  Men  began  to  hope 
that  the  Turks  might  be  altogether  conquered,  and  that  a  Christian 
Emperor  might  again  reign  at  Constantinople.  This  indeed  did  not 
happen ;  but  the  Imperial  armies,  under  Prince  Eugene,  made  large 
conquests  from  the  Turks.  The  small  part  of  Hungary  and  Slavonia 
which  the  Turks  kept  was  won  back,  and  Belgrade,  with  a  large  part 
of  Servia,  a  small  strip  of  Bosnia,  and  the  western  part  of  Wallachia, 
became  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  House  of  Austria.  Things  were 
now  different  from  what  they  had  been  under  Leopold.  Every  inch 
of  territory  won  from  the  Turk  was  so  much  won  for  eivilization  and 


328  DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 

comparative  good  government,  and  the  Imperial  armies  were  -welcomed 
as  deliverers  by  the  people  of  the  lands  which  they  set  free.  By  the 
Peace  of  Passarowitz,  in  1718,  made  for  another  term  of  twenty-five 
years,  all  these  conquests  were  confirmed  to  the  Emperor.  But  he 
shamefully  neglected  the  interests  of  Venice,  and  Peloponne«os  was 
again  confirmed  to  the  Turk,  when  there  were  hopes  of  winning  it 
back. 

Venice  now,  as  a  power,  passes  out  of  our  story,  though  we  shall 
hear  again  of  the  fate  of  what  was  left  of  her  Eastern  possessions. 
Through  the  rest  of  the  eighteenth  century  Austria  and  Russia  are  the 
powers  which  keep  up  the  struggle;  in  the  nineteenth  century  it  is 
Russia  only. 

There  is  no  need  to  go  through  every  detail  of  war  and  diplomacy 
in  these  times,  but  only  to  mark  those  events  which  form  real  land- 
marks in  the  decline  of  the  Turkish  power.  Thus  it  has  no  bearing 
on  our  subject,  though  we  may  mark  it  for  its  very  strangeness,  that 
in  the  latter  days  of  Peter  the  Great  the  Czar  and  the  Sultan  joined 
together  to  make  conquests  from  Persia.  And  when  the  war  began 
again  in  Europe,  the  tide  seemed  at  first  to  have  turned  to  the  side  of 
the  Turks.  Russia  was  eager  to  get  back  Azov,  and  the  Emperor 
Charles  was  ready  to  go  on  with  the  conquests  which  had  begun  early 
in  his  reign. 

"War  began  again  on  the  part  of  Russia  in  1735,  and  of  Austria  in 
1737.  The  Russians  made  conquests,  but  did  not  keep  them ;  and, 
now  that  the  Emperor  Charles  had  no  longer  a  great  general  like 
Eugene,  he  lost  much  of  what  he  had  won  in  the  earlier  war.  By  the 
peace  of  Belgrade,  in  1739,  Belgrade,  with  all  that  had  been  won  in 
Servia,  Bosnia,  and  Wallachia  was  given  back  by  the  Emperor  to  the 
Turk.  In  the  next  war  between  Austria  and  the  Turk,  which  was 
waged  in  the  last  years  of  the  Emperor  Joseph  the  Second,  Belgrade 
was  again  taken,  and  other  conquests  were  made;  but  nearly  all  was 
given  back  by  the  Emperor  Leopold  the  Second  at  the  Peace  of 
Sistova  in  1791,  when  the  Turk  again  got  Belgrade.  In  this  last 
war  the  Servians  fought  most  gallantly  on  the  imperial  side,  and 
learned  much  military  discipline.  But,  as  usual,  they  were  made  the 
playthings  of  policy  in  other  directions,  and  were  shamefully  given 
up  to  their  cruel  masters. 

The  war  which  was  ended  by  the  Peace  of  Sistova  was  the  last  of 


DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 


329 


An  Egyptian  Orchestra. 

the  wars  between  the  Turks  and  the  Emperors  of  the  House  of  Austria 
for  the  possession  of  Hungary,  Servia,  and  the  other  lands  on  the 
Danube.  The  result  of  all  these  wars  was  that  Hungary  was  freed 
from  the  Turk,  but  that  Servia  and  Bosnia  were  left  in  his  clutches. 


330  DECAY  OF  THE    TURKISH  POWER. 

But  it  must  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  these  lands  alike, 
Hungary,  Servia,  and  the  rest,  have  been  lost  and  won  again  in 
exactly  the  same  way.  The  frontier  which  now  divides  the  Hun- 
garian kingdom  from  the  Turk  is  simply  the  result  of  the  successive 
victories  and  defeats  of  the  Austrian  arms,  from  the  deliverance  of 
Vienna  in  1683  to  the  betrayal  of  Belgrade  in  1791.  There  is  no 
reason  but  the  accidents  of  those  wars,  the  accident  that  Charles  VI. 
had  a  great  general  early  in  his  reign  and  had  no  great  general  in  his 
later  years,  to  account  for  the  fact,  that  part  of  the  lands  on  the 
Danube  are  now  under  a  civilized  government,  while  part  are  left 
under  the  Turk. 

The  wars  between  Austria  and  the  Turk  are  thus  ended.  They 
ended  in  establishing  the  frontier  which  remains  still,  except  so  far  as 
one  of  the  lands  which  were  given  up  to  the  Turk  has  won  its  freedom 
for  itself.  But  the  wars  between  the  Turk  and  Russia  still  went  on. 
As  long  as  the  Austrian  wars  went  on,  there  was  commonly  a  Russian 
war  at  the  same  time,  while  there  were  other  wars  with  Russia  in 
which  Austria  had  no  share.  Thus,  at  the  Peace  of  Belgrade  in  1736, 
when  Austria  gave  up  so  much,  it  was  agreed  that  the  fortifications  of 
Azov  should  be  destroyed,  and  that  Russia  should  be  shut  out  from 
the  Euxine.  It  was  not  till  the  reign  of  Catherine  II.  that  the  real 
advance  of  Russia  began.  The  first  war  of  her  reign  began  with  the 
declaration  of  war  by  the  Turk  in  1768,  and  it  was  ended  by  the 
famous  treaty  of  Kainardshe  in  1774.  Two  points  are  specially  to  be 
noticed  in  the  wars  which  now  begin.  This  first  war  had  a  special 
effect  in  stirring  up  the  Greeks  to  revolt.  A  Russian  fleet  appeared  in 
the  ^gsean,  and  the  Greeks  of  Peloponnesos  rose  against  their  oppres- 
sors. They  were  badly  used  by  Russia,  just  as  the  Servians  were  by 
Austria ;  they  were  by  no  means  backed  up  as  they  ought  to  have 
been  against  the  Turks,  or  protected  from  their  vengeance.  Still  it 
was  a  great  thing  for  the  Greeks  again  to  feel  that  their  masters  had 
powerful  enemies,  and  that  they  themselves  could  do  something  against 
their  masters.  And  now  too  the  people  of  Montenegro  begin  to  play 
a  part  in  all  the  wars  against  the  Turk.  They  had  always  kejit  their 
own  independence  by  endless  fighting.  Their  land  had  been  often 
overrun,  but  it  Avas  never  really  conquered,  Montenegro  was  now 
under  the  rule  of  its  Bishops,  who,  somewhat  strangely  according  to 
our  notions,  acted  also  as  civil  and  military  chiefs.     Russia  had  long 


DECAY  OF   THE    TURKISH  POWER.  831 

given  the  Montenegrins  a  certain  measure  of  help  and  encouragement, 
and  in  all  the  wars  from  this  time,  Montenegro,  as  an  Orthodox  laud 
always  at  war  with  the  Turk,  was  found  a  useful  ally. 

The  treaty  of  Kaniardshe,  which  finished  this  war,  marks  an  import- 
ant stage  in  the  history.  The  Ottoman  power  was  now  for  the  first 
time  brought  into  some  measure  of  dependence.  By  this  treaty  Russia 
at  last  gained  the  long  disputed  possession  of  Azov,  with  some  other 
points  on  the  Euxine,  and  the  Tartars  of  the  Crimea  were  recognized 
as  a  state  independent  of  the  Turk.  It  is  worth  notice  that,  by  the 
treaty,  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Sultan,  as  Caliph  of  the  Prophet, 
was  fully  recognized  on  behalf  of  these  Tartars,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  were  released  from  his  temporal  authority.  The  principalities  of 
"NYallachia  and  Moldavia  were  restored  to  the  Turk,  on  condition  of 
his  observing  their  ancient  privileges  and  at  the  same  time  acknow- 
ledging a  right  in  Russia  to  remonstrate  in  case  of  any  breach  of  them. 
Russia  was  acknowledged  by  this  treaty  as  the  protector  of  the  Christian 
subjects  of  the  Turk ;  in  truth  the  principle  was  proclaimed,  though 
not  in  so  many  words,  that  Turkish  rule  was  something  different  from 
anything  that  we  understand  by  government.  It  was  practically 
proclaimed  that  those  whom  he  called  his  subjects  had  need  of  the 
protection  of  another  power  against  the  man  who  called  himself  their 
sovereign.  Both  at  the  time  and  ever  after,  this  treaty  has  been 
looked  on  as  the  beginning  of  the  fall  of  the  dominion  of  the  Turk. 
For  it  did  in  truth  make  the  Ottoman  power  in  some  sort  dependent 
on  Russia ;  ever  since  the  power  of  the  Turk  has  steadily  gone  down 
and  the  power  of  Russia  has  steadily  advanced,  and  we  must  set  down 
every  advance  made  by  Russia  at  the  cost  of  the  Turk  as,  indirectly 
at  least,  a  step  towards  the  deliverance  of  the  subject  nations. 

After  the  Treaty  of  Kainardshe  those  steps  pressed  fast  upon  one 
another.  In  1783  the  Crimea  was  altogether  incorporated  with  Russia, 
which  thus  at  last  obtained  a  great  seaboard  on  the  Euxine.  This 
was  one  of  those  things  which  could  not  fail  to  happen.  The  Tartars 
of  the  Crimea  could  not  possibly  continue  as  an  independent  state.  It 
was  something  like  Texas,  which,  when  it  was  cut  ofi"  from  Mexico, 
could  not  fail  to  be  joined  to  the  United  States.  Russia,  a  growing 
power,  could  not  be  kept  back  from  the  sea.  The  next  war,  from 
1787  to  1791,  was  the  last  in  which  Austria  shared,  that  which  was 
ended  by  the  Peace  of  Sistova,  when  Belgrade  was  last  given  back  to 


332 


DECAY  OF   THE    TURKISH  POWER. 


the  Turk.  It  almost  seemed  as  if,  between  the  two  Christian  powers, 
the  Turk  would  have  been  altogether  crushed.  But,  as  Ave  have  seen, 
the  Emperor  Leopold  drew  back,  and  the  loss  of  the  Austrian  alliance, 
together  with  the  general  state  of  affairs  in  Europe,  caused  Russia  to 
draw  back  also.  Still  this  war  gave  Russia  the  famous  fortress  of 
Otshakov  and  advanced  the  Russian  frontier  to  the  Dniester.  Russia 
thus  gained,  but  Christendom  lost.  For  this  increase  of  the  territory 
of  Russia  did  not  mean  the  deliverance  of  any  Christian  people,  Avhile 
the  surrender  of  Belgrade  was  the  betrayal  of  a  Christian  city  to  the 
barbarians.  It  did  not  perhaps  much  matter  when  Russia  ended  a 
war  in  which  Montenegro  had  helped  her  without  making  stipulations 
on  behalf  of  Montenegro.  For  the  Montenegrins  could  help  them- 
selves and  keep  their  own  borders.  It  was  different  when  Greeks 
and  Servians,  who  had  helped  Russia  and  Austria,  were  again  left 
under  the  rule  of  the  Turk.  Still  the  whole  course  of  events  helped 
to  raise  the  hopes  of  the  subject  nations,  and  to  make  them  feel  their 
strength.  Before  the  next  war  between  Russia  and  the  Turk  began, 
one  of  the  subject  nations  had  done  great  things  for  its  own  deliv- 
erance. 


Exterior  of  a  Mudlrn  Turkish  House. 


REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER.  333 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE  OTTOMAN  POWER. 

The  surrender  of  Belgrade  to  the  Turk  was  tlie  last  and  the  most 
shameful  act  of  the  wars  between  the  Turk  and  the  Emperors.  As 
soon  as  the  Servians  were  given  back  to  the  Turk  after  a  taste  of 
civilized  government,  they  found  themselves  worse  off  than  ever. 
The  Emperor,  in  giving  up  Belgrade,  did  indeed  stipulate  for  an 
amnesty  for  the  Servians  who  had  acted  on  his  side;  but  just  at  that 
moment  amnesties  and  stipulations  of  any  kind  did  not  count  for 
much.  It  would  have  been  a  hard  fate,  if  men  who  had  been  once  set 
free  had  been  given  back  to  one  of  the  great  Sultans,  or  even  to  one 
of  the  Saracen  Caliphs.  But  a  harder  fate  than  either  was  in  store 
for  the  Servians  whom  the  Peace  of  Sistova  gave  back  to  the  Turk. 
The  greater  part  of  the  Ottoman  dominion  was  now  in  a  state  of  utter 
anarchy.  Servia  was  in  the  hands  of  local  military  chiefs,  the  leaders 
of  the  rebellious  Janissaries.  In  some  parts  bands  of  men  Avhich 
might  be  called  armies  Avent  about  taking  towns  and  ravaging  the 
country  at  pleasure.  Brave  men  among  the  Christians  took  to  a  life  of 
wild  independence,  throwing  off,  for  themselves  at  least,  the  Turkish 
yoke  altogether.  In  other  parts  the  Sultans  found  it  necessary  to 
allow  the  Christians  to  bear  arms,  in  defence  alike  of  themselves  and 
of  the  Sultan's  authority  against  Mussulman  rebels.  Thus,  in  all 
these  ways,  the  subject  nations  were  gaining  courage  and  Avere  learn- 
ing the  use  of  arms.  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  now  the 
bravest  and  strongest  of  their  children  were  no  longer  taken  from 
them,  but  were  left  to  grow  up  as  leaders  of  their  countrymen.  In 
such  a  state  of  things  as  this,  the  rule  of  the  Sultan,  where  it  was  to 
be  had,  was  the  least  of  many  evils.  We  therefore  sometimes  actually 
find  an  alliance  between  the  Sultan  and  the  Christians  against  their 
local  oppressors.  This  was  the  case  in  Servia.  The  Servians,  under 
the  yoke  of  their  local  oppressors,  cried  to  the  Sultan  for  help,  and  the 
Sultan  was  for  a  while  disposed  to  favor  their  efforts  against  his  rebel- 
lious officers.  But  the  war  against  local  oppressors  gradually  swelled 
into  a  war  against  the  chief  oppressor  himself.    The  war  which  began 


334 


REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTIOMAN  POWER. 


in  1804  with  an  appeal  to  the  iSultau  against  local  oppressors  grew  in 
the  next  year  into  war  with  the  Sultan  himself,  which  led  in  the  end 
to  the  deliverance  of  Servia, 

By  this  time  the  affairs  of  Servia,  and  of  the  subject  nations  gener- 
ally, were  getting  mixed  up,  in  a  w^ay  in  which  they  had  not  been 
before,  with  the  general  affairs  of  Europe.  It  was  not  now  merely 
the  powers  whose  dominions  bordered  on  those  of  the  Turk,  but 
Western  powers  like  France  and  England,  which  came  to  have  a 
direct  share  in  the  affairs  of  the  Southeastern  lands.  After  the 
surrender  of  Belgrade,  but  before  the  Servian  revolt  really  began, 
Russia  and  the  Turk  had  become  allies.    The  revolutionary  French, 


REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE   OTTOMAN  POWER.  335 

under  Bonaparte,  had  in  1798  attacked  Egypt,  and  this  led  the  Turk 
into  an  alliance  with  Russia  and  England.  Oddly  enough,  one  result 
of  this  alliance  between  a  Mussulman,  a  Protestant,  and  an  Orthodox 
power  was  to  set  up  again  for  a  little  while  the  temporal  dominion  of 
the  Pope  which  the  French  had  upset.  At  a  later  stage,  in  1805, 
Russia  again  demanded  a  more  distinct  acknowledgment  of  the  Rus- 
sian protectorate  over  the  Christians.  Sultan  Selim  wept,  and  pres- 
ently came  under  the  influence  of  France,  which  power,  by  annexing 
the  Illyrian  provinces  of  Austria,  had  become  his  neighbor.  Selim 
presently,  Turk-like,  broke  his  faith  by  deposing  the  princes  of  "Walla- 
chia  and  Moldavia  contrary  to  treaty,  and  now  England  and  Russia 
were  both  armed  against  him.  The  barbarian  bragged  as  usual,  and 
this  time  with  more  reason  than  usual.  A  Turkish  fleet  was  burned 
in  the  Propontis  by  the  English ;  a  little  more  energy,  and  Constanti- 
nople might  have  been  taken,  and  Europe  might  have  been  cleansed 
of  Asiatic  intruders.  Later  still,  when  Bonaparte  and  Alexander  of 
Russia  were  for  a  while  friends,  there  were  further  schemes  for  getting 
rid  of  the  Turk  altogether,  and  for  dividing  his  dominions  between 
Russia,  Austria,  and  France.  Such  a  division  would  doubtless  have 
been  an  immediate  gain  for  the  subject  nations.  Any  civilized  mas- 
ters, Russian,  Austrian,  or  French,  would  have  been  better  than  the 
Turks,  even  under  a  reforming  Selim.  But  for  some  at  least  of  the 
subject  nations  better  things  were  in  store.  They  were,  partly  by 
their  own  valor,  partly  by  help  from  Christian  nations,  to  be  raised  to 
a  state  in  which  they  had  no  need  to  acknowledge  any  masters  at  all. 
The  war  between  Russia  and  the  Turk  went  on  till  it  was  ended  in 
1812  by  the  Peace  of  Bucharest.  By  that  peace  Russia  kept  Bessa- 
rabia and  all  Moldavia  east  of  the  Pruth,  which  river  became  the 
boundary  instead  of  the  Dniester.  The  war  concerns  us  chiefly  so 
far  as  its  course  influenced  the  course  of  the  war  between  the  Turk 
and  the  Servian  patriots.  Whenever  Selim  was  frightened  by  the 
advance  of  Russia,  he  made  promises  to  the  Servians ;  whenever  he 
thought  that  he  had  a  chance  against  Russia,  he  withdrew  or  broke 
his  promises.  Up  to  1805  the  Servian  war  was  not  strictly  war  against 
the  Sultan,  it  was  a  war  against  the  Sultan's  rebellious  enemies. 
Under  their  leader,  Czerni,  Kara,  or  Black  George,  the  Servians 
fought  valiantly  against  their  local  tyrants,  but  they  tried  to  make 
favorable   terms  with  the  Sultan  through  the   mediation  of  Russia. 


336  REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER. 

Selim,  instead  of  granting  any  terms,  attacked  the  men  who  had  been 
fighting  against  his  enemies.  But  Czerni  George  and  the  other  Ser- 
vian chiefs  crushed  his  forces  right  and  left,  and  the  Russian  army- 
was  on  the  march.  Selira  offered  to  let  Servia  go  free  in  everything, 
except  payment  of  tribute  and  keeping  a  small  Turkish  garrison  in 
Belgrade.  But,  as  soon  as  Selim  heard  of  the  French  successes  against 
Russia,  he  retracted  his  promises  and  went  on  with  the  war.  Pres- 
ently, in  1807,  Selim  was  deposed  and  soon  after  murdered,  as  was 
also  Mustapha  Avho  was  set  up  in  his  stead.  Then,  in  1808,  began  the 
reign  of  the  fierce  Mahmoud  II.,  another  Turkish  reformer,  the  nature 
of  whose  reforms  are  well  remembered  by  the  people  of  Chios.  The 
war  went  on  till  the  peace  with  Russia  in  181*2.  That  treaty  contained 
some  provisions  on  behalf  of  Servia  which  were  meant  to  make  Servia 
a  tributary  state,  free  from  all  Turkish  interference  in  its  internal 
affairs.  But  now  the  Turk  no  longer  feared  Russia ;  he  feared  her 
still  less  when  Bonaparte  was  marching  against  her.  Mahmoud  there- 
fore thought  himself  strong  enough  to  break  the  treaty.  Servia  was 
attacked  again;  Czerni  George  lost  heart,  and  took  shelter  in  the 
Austrian  dominions.  Servia  was  conquered,  and  the  old  tyranny  was 
brought  back  again.  Her  first  deliverer  had  fled ;  but  a  new  deliverer 
arose  in  Milosh  Obrenovich.  He  gradually  won  the  freedom  of  the 
land,  and  in  1817  he  was  chosen  Prince.  Servian  affairs  dragged  on 
for  several  years ;  this  and  that  agreement  was  made  with  the  Turk, 
but  none  were  fully  carried  out.  By  the  treaty  of  Akerman,  in  1826, 
Mahmoud  consented  to  Servian  independence.  The  land  was  to  be 
free,  excepting  only  the  payment  of  tribute  and  the  keeping  of  Turkish 
garrisons  in  certain  fortresses;  but  it  was  not  till  the  treaty  of  Adrian- 
ople  in  1829  that  the  provisions  for  the  independence  of  Servia  were 
really  carried  out. 

Since  then  Servia  has  been  a  separate  state  under  its  own  princes ; 
but  more  than  one  change  of  dynasty  has  taken  place  between  Milosh 
and  his  descendants  and  the  descendants  of  Czerni  George.  The  laud 
has  flourished  and  advanced  in  every  way,  as  it  never  could  have  done 
under  Turkish  masters.  The  Prince  of  Servia  rules  over  a  free  people. 
But  for  a  long  time  freedom  was  imperfect,  as  long  as  the  Turks  kept 
garrisons  in  Belgrade  and  other  fortresses.  In  1862  Servia  had  a 
proof  that,  where  the  Turkish  soldier  is  allowed  to  tread,  he  will  do  as 
he  has  ever  done.     A  brutal  outrage  of  the  usual  Turkish  kind  on  a 


REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER. 


837 


Turkish  Fountain. 


young  Servian  was  resisted;  the  barbarian  garrison  presently  bom- 
barded Belgrade.  Dijilomacy  dragged  on  its  weary  course;  but  at 
last,  after  five  years,  Servia  was  wholly  freed  from  the  presence  of  the 
enemy.  The  Turkish  troops  were  withdrawn,  and  since  then  Servia 
has  been  wholly  free,  saving  the  tribute  which  goes,  which  sometimes 
does  not  go,  from  the  purses  of  her  free  children,  for  the  tyrant  whose 
yoke  she  has  thrown  off  to  squander  on  his  vices  and  follies. 

The  Greek  revolution  began  in  1821.  It  was  mainly  the  work  of 
the  Greeks  themselves,  counting  among  them  the  Christian  Albanians. 
They  had  some  help,  but  not  very  much,  from  the  other  subject 
nations.  The  Servians  had  their  own  war  of  independence  going  on ; 
but  a  few  Bulgarian  and  Bouman  volunteers  did  good  service  in 
Greece.  But  more  was  done  by  volunteers  from  England,  France,  and 
other  western  countries.  Lord  Byron's  name  is  well  known  as  one 
who  in  his  latter  days  gave  himself  for  the  Greek  cause.  And  great 
thiugs  were  done  by  the  Greeks  and  Albanians  themselves,  as  by  the 
Souliot  hero  Mark  Botzares,  and  by  Alexander  Mavrokordatos,  who 
was  not  a  military  man,  but  a  Fanariot  of  Constantinople,  almost  the 
only  one  of  that  class  who  did  anything.  He  bravely  defended  ]\Iis- 
solonghi  against  the  Turks  in  one  of  its  two  sieges.  In  short,  among 
many  ups  and  downs,  the  Greeks,  with  such  help  as  they  had,  were 
able  to  hold  the  greater  part  of  Greece  itself  against  the  Turks. 

After  the  war  had  gone  on  for  some  years,  Sultan  Mahmoud  found 
22 


338  REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER. 

that  neither  his  massacres  in  other  places  nor  the  armies  \yhich  he 
sent  against  Greece  itself  could  break  the  spirit  of  the  Greek  people. 
Greece  at  one  end,  Servia  at  the  other  end,  were  too  strong  for  him. 
He  had  to  send  for  what  was  really  foreign  help.  In  the  break-up  of 
the  Turkish  power,  Mehemet  Ali,  the  Pasha  of  Egypt,  had  made 
himself  practically  independent  of  the  Sultan.  Mahmoud,  in  order  to 
bring  back  the  Greeks  under  his  yoke,  had  to  humble  himself  to  ask 
for  help  of  his  rebellious  vassal.  In  a  war  against  Christians,  where 
plunder  and  slaves  might  be  had,  Mehemet-Ali  was  ready  to  help  ;  so 
he  sent  his  son  Ibrahim  with  an  Egyptian  force.  The  Greeks,  who 
had  held  their  ground  against  the  Turks  alone,  found  Turks  and 
Egyptians  together  too  strong  for  them.  Ibrahim  acted  on  the 
principle  of  making  the  land  a  desert,  by  slaying  or  enslaving  the 
whole  Christian  population.  Thus  he  went  on,  committing  every  kind 
of  crime  and  outrage  in  Crete,  Peloponnesos,  and  elsewhere,  from  1824 
to  1827. 

In  1826  England  and  Russia  agreed  on  a  scheme  for  the  liberation 
of  Greece  which  was  distinctly  drawn  up,  not  in  the  narrow  interests 
of  England  or  of  Russia,  but  in  the  interests  of  humanity.  Both 
powers  disclaimed  any  advantage  for  themselves;  they  sought  the 
advantage  of  others  and  of  humanity  in  general.  Greece  was  to 
become  a  separate  tributary  state,  like  Servia,  Presently  Mahmoud 
signed  the  treaty  of  Akerman  with  Russia,  which  is  an  important 
stage  in  the  history  of  all  the  principalities  on  the  Danube ;  but  with 
regard  to  Greece  Mahmoud  was  obstinate. 

In  July,  1827,  England,  France,  and  Russia  signed  the  Treaty  of 
London,  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  compel  the  Turk,  by 
force  if  it  should  be  needful,  to  acknowledge  the  freedom  of  Greece. 
In  November  was  fought  the  great  battle  of  Navarino.  Three  great 
European  powers  joined  their  forces  to  crush  the  power  of  the  bar- 
barian and  to  set  free  his  victims.  The  Turkish  and  Egyptian  fleet 
was  destroyed  and  Greece  was  saved.  Mahmoud  had  to  yield,  and  by 
accepting  the  Treaty  of  London,  to  consent  to  the  liberation  of  Greece. 

The  pride  of  the  Turk  was  utterly  humbled ;  his  power  was  utterly 
broken  and  a  large  part  of  his  dominions  was  taken  from  him.  Servia 
and  Greece  were  now  free ;  Greece  became  not  only  free,  1)ut  altogether 
independent.  This  last  was  a  special  humbling  of  INIahraoud's  pride. 
He  had  insolently  said  that  he  would  allow  no  interference  between 


REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER.  339 

him  and  those  whom  he  called  his  subjects.  He  was  presently  driven 
to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  those  subjects,  to  deal  with  them 
as  an  independent  power,  to  receive  a  minister  from  them,  and  to  send 
a  minister  to  them. 

Sultan  Mahmoud,  who  had  shown  himself  one  of  the  bloodiest 
tyrants  in  history,  set  up  in  his  later  days  for  a  reformer,  and  put 
forth  proclamations,  promising  all  kinds  of  good  government  to  his 
subjects  of  all  religions.  But  while  his  pretended  reforms  did  little 
good  to  the  Christians,  they  set  his  Mohammedan  subjects  against  him. 
There  were  Mohammedan  revolts  in  Bosnia,  Albania,  and  other  parts, 
and  Mehemet-Ali  of  Egypt  began  to  found  a  dominion  of  his  own,  at 
the  expense  of  the  Ottoman  Turks.  He  held  Egypt  and  Crete,  and 
presently  conquered  Syria.  As  usual,  the  rule  of  the  new  despot  was 
not  so  bad  as  that  of  the  old  one.  Mehemet  was  a  tyrant  of  that  kind 
which  will  not  endure  smaller  tyrants ;  so  he  established,  if  not  really 
good  government,  at  least  something  of  stern  order  in  his  dominions. 

Mahmoud  was  succeeded  in  1839,  by  Abdul  Medjid,  who  gave 
promise  at  first  of  an  efficient  administration,  but  soon  surrendered 
himself  to  voluptuous  pleasures.  The  Christians  were  everywhere 
ill-treated,  and  appealed  in  vain  for  protection.  At  last  they  presented 
their  complaints  to  Emperor  Nicholas  of  Russia,  who  gave  to  them  an 
attentive  ear.  It  had  been  a  favorite  idea  of  Peter  I.  and  Catherine 
II.  to  embrace  the  Christian  provinces  of  Turkey  within  their  domin- 
ions, and  to  expel  the  Tui'ks  from  Southeastern  Europe.  This  project 
now  began  to  occupy  the  mind  of  Nicholas,  and  was  even  discussed 
with  England.  The  Russian  Emperor  finally  made  an  open  demand 
for  the  protectorate  over  all  the  Christians  in  Turkey,  in  March,  1853, 
and  to  support  his  demands  a  Russian  army  of  eighty  thousand  men 
occupied  the  principalities  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia. 

The  Turks  declared  war  against  Russia  in  October,  1853,  and  in 
March  of  the  following  year,  England  and  France  came  to  their 
assistance.  A  few  months  later,  Sardinia  joined  the  alliance.  The 
war  was  ended  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1856,  by  which  a  portion  of 
Bessarabia  Avas  ceded  to  Moldavia  and  Wallachia.  By  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  the  latter  were  required  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the 
sublime  Porte,  but  were,  at  the  same  time,  taken  under  the  protection 
of  the  Western  powers ;  and  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan  were 
accorded  equal  rights  with  the  Mohammedans. 


840  REVOLTS  AGAINST  THE    OTTOMAN  POWER. 

Since  1856  there  have  been  several  revolts  of  the  subject  nations, 
and  several  wars  have  been  waged  by  the  Turks  against  the  independent 
state  of  Montenegro. 

During  the  reign  of  Abdul-Aziz,  which  began  in  1861,  the  people 
of  Crete  revolted,  and  kept  up  a  gallant  struggle  from  1866  to  1868. 
They  were  in  the  end  conquered,  and  there  followed  a  long  and  cruel 
war  of  persecution  by  the  Turks.  Other  disturbances  took  place  during 
this  reign,  resulting  from  various  causes ;  and  since  1875  there  have 
been  open  revolts  in  Herzegovina,  Bosnia,  and  Bulgaria ;  and  the 
Turks  have  been  involved  in  war  with  Montenegro  and  Servia,  which 
will  be  more  fully  detailed  in  subsequent  pages. 


Interior  of  a  Modern  Turkish  House. 


THE   TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION.  341 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  TUREISH  ADMINISTRATION 

The  Ottoman  Empire,  comprising  all  its  provinces,  in  Europe  and 
in  Asia,  under  the  immediate  rule  of  the  Sultan  at  Constantinople, 
has  a  total  population  estimated  at  twenty-eight  millions  and  a  half. 
Thirteen  millions  and  a  half  are  considered  to  be  of  the  Ottoman 
Turkish  nation,  of  whom  less  than  two  millions  are  found  in  European 
Turkey.  The  Mussulman  population,  in  all,  numbers  about  eighteen 
or  nineteen  millions,  including,  besides  the  Ottoman  Turks,  over  four 
millions  of  Turcomans,  Arabs,  Albanians,  Kurds,  and  Circassians, 
mixed  up  with  others  in  different  parts,  and  probably  half  a  million 
of  the  Bulgarian  and  Slav  races,  more  especially  in  Bosnia,  who  have 
adopted  the  religion  of  their  conquerors.  The  ten  millions  of  people 
reckoned  as  Christians  are  divided  chiefly  between  the  Orthodox  or 
Greek-Russian  Church,  the  Armenian,  and  the  Bulgarian  ecclesias- 
tical communions,  with  over  half  a  million  Roman  Catholics,  and  a 
few  Nestorians  or  Jacobites,  besides  the  Jews  and  Gypsies.  In  gen- 
eral, throughout  the  Turkish  Empire  there  is  perfect  liberty  of 
religious  worship ;  but  the  non-Mussulman  Churches  and  sects  ai-e  not 
allowed  to  make  converts  by  the  open  preaching  of  their  doctrines  in 
public.  The  Christians,  of  whatsoever  race,  indiscriminately  called 
Rayahs,  are  excluded  from  civil  offices  and  exempted  from  military 
service,  instead  of  which  they  pay  a  certain  tax  in  money ;  but  they 
are  allowed  to  manage  their  own  afiairs  in  small  local  communities, 
free  from  Government  interference.  In  all  private  and  social  relations 
amongst  themselves,  where  none  of  their  INIohammedan  neighbors 
happen  to  be  concerned,  the  Rayahs  enjoy  a  large  share  of  practical 
liberty,  which  they  have  used,  in  most  instances,  to  prosper  fairly  by 
their  agricultural,  industrial,  and  trading  occupations.  The  Bulga- 
rians in  European  Turkey,  and  the  Armenians  in  Asia  Minor,  as  well 
as  at  Constantinople,  have  long  been  accustomed  to  do  nearly  all  the 
real  steady  work  of  farming,  manufacturing,  and  ordinary  labor; 
while  the  Greeks  have  followed  the  profitable  pursuits  of  commerce 
and  finance   and  all  manner  of  intrigue.    The  Mussulman  lords  of 


342  THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 

this  extensive  region,  as  a  general  rule,  are  content  to  indulge  their 
natural  indolence,  and  their  pride  as  a  superior  class  of  privileged 
proprietors,  without  producing  any  contribution  to  the  wealth  of  the 
country.  The  Turkish  or  Syrian  j)easant  will,  of  course,  labor  as 
much  as  he  is  obliged  to  do  for  his  mere  livelihood ;  and  there  are 
Mohammedan  tradesmen  and  craftsmen,  along  with  others,  in  the 
cities  and  towns  of  Turkey.  But  the  Turkish  rural  landowner  or 
squire,  who  is  entitled  Agha  or  Beg,  has  too  high  a  sense  of  his 
personal  dignity  ever  to  condescend  to  useful  business.  These  classes 
of  the  Turkish  population  are  nevertheless  equal,  in  most  domestic 
and  social  virtues,  though  not  in  the  virtue  of  industry,  to  those  of 
any  other  nation.  Their  honesty,  sobriety,  and  veracity,  and  their 
kindliness  of  disposition,  when  not  inflamed  by  religious  animosities, 
are  fully  attested  by  every  foreign  resident  in  Turkey.  A  very  dif- 
ferent character  is  ascribed  to  the  class  of  metropolitan  Turks  at 
Stamboul,  the  place-hunters,  officials  and  courtiers  of  the  Sultan's 
Government,  from  Avhom  the  Pashas  and  Beys  exercising  power  in  his 
name  are  selected.  There  is  probably  not  a  more  corrupt  and  worth- 
less set  of  men,  intrusted  with  rule  over  their  fellow-subjects,  in  any 
country  of  the  world;  extortionate,  unjust,  and  cruel  beyond  our  con- 
ception, and  frequently  addicted  to  the  most  infamous  vices.  This 
frightful  demoralization  of  the  Turkish  governing  class,  which  has  not 
yet  infected  the  whole  Turkish  nation,  is  the  result  of  four  centuries 
of  absolute  domination.  It  is  not  the  moral  teaching  of  the  Koran, 
though  much  harm  is  done  by  polygamy,  chiefly  practiced  by  men  of 
wealth  and  rank ;  nor  is  it  any  inherent  wickedness  that  has  developed 
such  monstrous  governmental  iniquity  among  the  Ottoman  lords  of 
the  East.  They  have  become  so  depraved  from  the  possession  of 
despotic  power,  like  the  ancient  Romans  of  the  Western  and  Eastern 
Emi)ire ;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  say  that  Englishmen  or  Americans, 
placed  in  the  same  position,  would  have  behaved  much  better,  unless 
restrained  by  the  i)urifying  influence  of  the  Christian  faith. 

These  remarks  will  serve  for  an  introduction  to  a  brief  account  of 
the  administration  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  Its  vast  and  various  terri- 
tories, extending  from  the  banks  of  the  Danube  and  the  shores  of  the 
Adriatic  to  those  of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  are  divided 
into  twenty-two  Provinces,  eight  of  them  in  Europe  and  fourteen  in 
Asia.     Those  in  Europe  are  the  metropolitan  district  of  Constantinople, 


THE   TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 


543 


to  which  is  annexed  the  neighborhood  of  Scutari,  on  the  Asiatic  side 
of  the  Bosphorus;  the  province  of  Adrianople,  including  the  better 
part  of  Roumelia  or  Thrace,  limited  northward  by  the  Balkans ;  the 
Danubian  province,  called  Touna,  which  extends  from  Varna,  on  the 
Black  Sea  coast,  westward  as  far  as  Widdin,  on  the  Danube,  adjoin- 
ing the  Servian  and  Roumanian  frontiers ;  the  province  of  Bosnia  and 
that  of  Herzegovina,  which  occupy  the  northwestern  corner  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  adjacent  to  the  Austrian  dominions;  the  province 
of  Salonica,  including  the  ancient  Macedonia,  on  the  shores  of  the 


344  THE   TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 

-^gean  Sea;  the  southwestern  provinces  of  Monastir  or  Prisrend,  and 
of  Scodra  and  Yaunina,  or  Albania  and  Enirus ;  besides  which  there 
is  the  island  province  of  Crete  or  Caudia,  and  one  comprising  the  Greek 
isles  of  Rhodes,  Chios,  Mytilene,  Cos,  and  Cyprus.  There  is  a  similar 
subdivision  of  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Mesopotamia,  into  fourteen  Pro- 
vinces. The  most  considerable  are  those  of  Aidin  (Avith  Smyrna), 
Aleppo,  Bagdad,  Trebizond,  Erzeroum,  Adana,  Tripoli  Syria,  and 
Koordistan.  The  Governor  of  a  Province  or  Vilayet  is  styled  the  A^ali, 
and  is  usually  a  man  of  the  rank  of  Pasha,  but  absolutely  dependent  on 
Court  favor.  He  gets  his  appointment  from  the  Council  of  State  at 
Constantinople  by  dint  of  gross  bribery,  and  his  tenure  of  office 
being  very  short  and  uncertain,  he  strives  to  enrich  himself  as  quickly 
as  possible  by  every  sort  of  trickery,  and  by  squeezing  the  unfortunate 
people  under  his  rule.  Each  Vilayet  is  further  divided  into  five  or 
six  Livas  or  Saudjaks,  which  are  managed  respectively  by  their  Mute- 
carrifs,  under  the  general  instructions  of  the  Vali;  and  each  Sandjak 
comprises  so  many  Cazas,  under  their  respective  Caimacams,  or  Mu- 
shirs,  these  sub-governors  being  likewise  appointed  in  Constantinople. 
Below  this  grade  of  Turkish  Government  officials,  and  their  spheres 
of  iniquitous  oppression,  are  the  Nahiehs,  or  Communes,  each  presided 
over  by  a  Mayor,  called  the  Mudir,  who  is  elected  by  the  inhabitants, 
and  who  may  be  a  Christian ;  there  are  also  the  Codja-bashis,  or  head 
men  of  villages,  under  the  orders  of  the  Mudir.  A  Council,  which  in 
the  Turkish  language  is  a  "  Medjliss,"  and  in  which  one  or  two  Chris- 
tians may  sit  with  a  dozen  Mohammedans,  assists  every  grade  of 
executive  officials ;  the  Vali  has  his  Medjliss,  including  the  provincial 
judges  or  Muftis;  the  Mutecarrif  has  his,  consisting  of  the  magistrates 
or  Cadis,  the  leading  clergymen,  and  four  elected  members ;  the  Mushir 
or  Caimacam,  and  the  Mudir  of  a  Commune,  have  similar  nominal 
assistants.  But  it  too  often  proves  that  the  Medjliss  is  only  a  screen 
for  the  illegal  and  oppressive  acts  of  the  administration.  The  whole 
of  this  complicated  machinery,  in  fact,  is  applied  by  the  ruling  Pasha 
to  the  purpose  of  extorting  money,  in  a  variety  of  irregular  ways,  but 
mainly  by  intimidation,  from  the  more  helpless  classes  of  the  Sultan's 
subjects,  and  the  Rayahs  are  most  helpless,  because  their  complaints 
will  never  be  heard  by  the  Sultan. 

With  regard  to  the  judicial  system  and  the  dispensation  of  civil  aud 
criminal   law,  there  is   a  distinct  set  of  law   courts,  with  peculiar 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 


345 


Oriental  Form  of  Worship. 


jurisdiction,  composed  of  Mussul- 
man and  Christian  Judges  sitting 
together,  for  the  trial  of  cases  in 
which  any  of  the  Christian  subjects 
of  the  Sultan  are  plaintiffs  or  de- 
fendants. The  ordinary  Moslem 
courts  of  law,  which  deal  with  all 
cases  in  which  only  Mussulman 
plaintiffs  and  defendants  or  accused 
persons  and  prosecutors,  are  con- 
cerned, have  an  entirely  different 
character.  They  are  composed  of 
Mollahs,  or  Judges  of  the  Law  of 
the  Koran,  which  is  styled  the 
Cher'i,  and  the  supreme  head  of 
this  learned  body  is  the  Sheikh-ul- 
Islam,  who  is  at  once  Lord  Chan- 
cellor and  Primate  of  the  Moham- 
medan Church.  But  the  law  deduced  from  the  moral  and  religious 
precepts  of  Mohammedanism,  by  a  succession  of  literary  scholars  and 
commentators  since  the  Middle  Ages,  is  now  supplemented  with  rules 
derived  from  the  old  Roman  or  Civil  Law  of  the  Empire,  and  from 
the  French  Code  Napoleon ;  so  that  it  is  tolerably  fit  for  application  to 
modern  secular  affairs.  The  district  judges  of  the  Moslem  law-courts 
are  said  to  be  men  of  tolerable  integrity ;  and  it  seems  to  be  acknow- 
ledged, on  the  whole,  that  the  Turkish  judiciary  is  much  sounder  than 
the  administrative  or  executive  branches  of  government.  The  Sheikh- 
ul-Islam,  indeed,  is  a  venerable  personage  at  Stamboul,  the  organ  of 
ecclesiastical  and  legal  authority,  placed  high  above  those  temptations 
of  servility  and  venality  which  beset  the  Sultan's  courtiers,  parasites, 
and  Ministers  of  State.  The  Mollahs,  and  the  various  degrees  of 
rabbis,  teachers,  scribes,  and  lawyers,  constitute  a  fairly  respectable 
corporation,  with  the  Sheikh-ul-Islam  at  their  head,  willing  to  exert 
their  influence  for  the  protection  of  good  Mussulman  subjects  against 
the  abuses  governmental,  unfortunate  Christians,  and  power.  But  the 
Jews  have  no  such  effectual  protection.  The  Patriarch  of  the  Greek 
Church  has  usually  been  a  mere  instrument  of  Turkish  tyranny.  The 
Bulgarian  national  Church,  till  lately  overborne  and  suppressed  by 


346  THE   TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION, 

the  Greek,  has  regained  its  ecclesiastical  independence,  but  the  chief 
of  its  hierarchy  does  not  possess  any  credit  or  influence  with  the 
Sultan's  Government ;  nor  can  the  Armenian  Patriarch  or  the  Jewish 
Chief  Rabbi  interfere  on  behalf  of  their  fellow-religionists  with  any 
hope  of  obtaining  redress. 

The  source,  indeed,  of  all  that  is  evil  in  the  home  administration  of 
the  Turkish  Empire  will  be  found  in  its  being  absolutely  centralized  in 
the  will  of  an  autocratic  ruler,  who  is  incapable,  from  hereditary  indo- 
lence and  necessary  ignorance,  of  really  governing  by  himself,  and  must 
therefore  commit  his  power  to  the  hands  of  a  few  men  about  his  Court, 
who  do  not  care  how  sorely  the  non-Mussulman  subjects  are  oppressed. 
This  negative  condition  alone,  even  without  the  shameless  profligacy 
and  ruthless  rapacity  of  Ministers  and  Pashas,  corrupting  and  per- 
verting the  entire  administration  of  Turkey,  would  seem  to  make  it 
hopeless  that  equal  justice  can  ever  be  done  to  Christians  and  Moham- 
medans under  the  Sultan's  reign.  The  Christians  of  every  race  and 
class  in  Turkey  are  still  treated  as  a  conquered  people,  to  be  fleeced, 
insulted  and  kept  in  perpetual  degradation,  by  their  Moslem  con- 
querors, though  four  or  five  centuries  have  ela^ijsed  since  the  date  of 
their  conquest. 

The  modern  institution  of  the  Medjlisses,  or  provincial  and  municipal 
councils,  has  only  made  the  state  of  things  W'orse  than  before.  In  the 
absence  of  a  free  press  and  an  expression  of  public  opinion,  the  working 
of  these  municipal  councils,  so  fine  in  theory,  does  but  multiply  the 
oppressors  of  the  people.  Instead  of  one  great  tyrant,  there  are  fifty 
smaller  ones,  each  bent  on  enriching  himself  at  the  expense  of  the 
community.  The  mudir  appointed  at  Constantinople  may  possibly  be 
an  honest  man,  and  may  have  come  with  a  determination  to  resist 
oppression,  but  no  sooner  does  he  attempt  to  thwart  the  designs  of  the 
Medjliss  than  the  members  unite  against  him,  and  send  to  Con- 
stantinople a  "mazbata"  or  round-robin — an  instrument  of  irresistible 
force  in  Turkey — praying  for  his  removal,  and  accusing  him  of  all 
sorts  of  crimes  and  misdemeanors.  This  petition  is  always  attended 
to,  since  the  mudirlik  is  a  most  valuable  piece  of  patronage  at  Con- 
stantinople, for  it  brings  in  a  certain  money  value  to  some  great  Pasha, 
who  sits  in  his  "yali"  on  the  Bosj^horus  and  dispenses  places  at  so 
many  thousand  j^astrcs  each. 

The  theory  of  the  election  of  the  members  of  the  Medjliss  is  that  the 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION.  347 

notables  of  the  town  are  elected  by  the  popular  voice ;  but  in  reality 
they  are  always  the  creatures  of  the  Pasha.  In  these  muuicipal 
councils  Christians  are  supposed  by  very  credulous  Ottomaniacs  to 
have  a  voice ;  we  believe  that  one  or  two  are  admitted  to  a  seat  in  the 
Medjliss  of  the  Pashalik,  to  carry  out  a  theory ;  but  we  never  heard 
of  one  being  hardy  enough  to  open  his  mouth.  The  Medjliss,  or 
Council  of  the  Mushir,  regulates  the  taxes,  sending  the  demand  for 
the  sum  required  to  the  Kaimakams ;  these  apportion  it  to  the  mudirs, 
who  divide  and  apportion  so  much  to  each  muktar,  or  chief  of  a  village, 
who  must  collect  the  money.  The  municipal  councils  also  fix  the 
price  of  bread,  corn,  and  other  commodities  for  their  own  district. 
Unfortunately  for  the  sake  of  justice  and  fair  play,  the  members  of 
this  council  are  always  tradesmen,  and  generally  contrive  the  prices  to 
suit  their  own  advantage.  They  also  hear  criminal  cases,  and  farm 
the  taxes.  "When  any  public  works  are  undertaken  the  Medjliss  fixes 
the  price  of  labor  and  the  number  of  men  to  be  employed.  These 
latter  are  supposed  to  give  their  time  and  labor  in  lieu  of  taxes ;  and 
in  no  department  is  there  such  injustice  and  plunder.  The  bill  of 
costs  to  the  Government  is  signed  by  each  member  of  the  Medjliss, 
each  taking  his  share  of  the  proceeds  of  peculation.  All  the  wrongs, 
the  unjust  exaction  of  labor,  double  taxation,  truck  system,  and  other 
burdens  grievous  to  be  borne,  fall  on  the  unfortunate  peasant,  who  is 
thereby  ground  down  to  the  lowest  stage  of  poverty,  and  can  never 
hope  to  improve  his  position. 

The  criminal  cases  are  tried  before  the  Medjliss,  the  money  cases  by 
the  Kaimakam,  or  Cadi ;  and  these  latter  are  entitled  to  five  per  cent, 
on  the  sum  awarded  to  the  successful  client,  when  the  debt  is  above  a 
certain  amount.  Collusion  frequently  occurs ;  a  false  charge  is  made 
by  a  man,  the  debt  is  awarded  to  him,  and  the  corrupt  judge  receives 
his  five  per  cent,  or  more.  If  a  Turk  Ls  condemned  to  pay  a  Christian 
he  refuses  to  submit  to  the  decision  of  the  Cadi,  and  carries  his  case  to 
the  "Mehkem^."  This  Ls  a  tribunal  of  which  the  Cadi  is  the  president, 
and  of  which  the  decisions  are  guided  entirely  by  the  Koran,  the 
Mufti  being  referred  to  in  cases  of  difficulty.  Here  the  Christian  is 
not  recognized  as  a  fellow-citizen;  he  is  a  "rayah,"  or  conquered  being, 
whose  existence  is  only  tolerated  by  his  paying  a  ransom  yearly  for  his 
head,  called  a  "haratch."  It  would  be  monstrous,  indeed  a  great  sin, 
to  admit  hi%  evidence;  therefore  the  Mussulman's  "yea  or  nay"   is 


S48  THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 

sufficient  to  overthrow  all  Christian  asseverations  or  testimony.  In 
February,  1854,  a  firman  was  published,  to  the  eifect  that  Christians 
were  henceforward  to  be  considered  as  fellow-citizens,  and  their  "  infor- 
mation" taken  in  all  courts  of  justice  throughout  the  Empire.  This 
new  law  was  published  in  the  European  papers,  and  sundry  hopeful 
comments  were  made  upon  it ;  but  we  know  by  subsequent  events  that 
it  was  never  intended  to  be  acted  upon.  Christians  are  constantly 
wronged,  but  we  have  never  heaid  of  their  evidence  being  taken. 
Each  Pasha,  when  questioned  concerning  this  firman,  declares  he 
knows  nothing  of  it ;  no  firman  of  the  kind  has  ever  been  oflicially 
communicated  to  him. 

In  Palestine,  which  is  to  most  of  us  a  country  of  the  greatest  interest 
among  the  Asiatic  dominions  of  the  Sultan,  the  effects  of  Turkish 
administration  have  always  been  exceedingly  pernicious.  The  present 
bad  government  is  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  any  improvement  in  the 
condition  of  that  country;  the  people  are  oppressed,  are  wronged; 
there  is  no  feeling  of  security  for  property  or  person ;  no  justice,  no 
honesty,  among  the  officials.  Bribery  and  corruption,  according  to 
our  meaning  of  the  terms,  are  mild  words  to  use  towards  the  infamous 
means  by  which  money  is  extorted  from  the  poor.  And,  unfortunately, 
the  maladministration  commences  from  the  top.  No  Pasha  could 
aflford  to  be  honest;  no  governor-general  could  venture  to  be  just. 
The  whole  organism  of  the  country  lies  on  a  rotten  foundation,  which 
is  constantly  being  underpinned  by  the  fortunes  and  lives  of  the  Chris- 
tians, and  often,  too,  by  those  of  the  INIoslems  who  have  not  been 
sufficiently  wily  to  avoid  getting  into  difficulties;  but  nothing  will 
ever  make  that  rotten  foundation  solid,  based,  as  it  is,  on  the  Turks' 
view  that  the  Christians  and  Jews  cannot  be  admitted  to  an  equal 
position  in  the  country  with  the  followers  of  the  Prophet.  The  Mos- 
lem religion  has  entered  into  a  phase  which  will  admit  of  no  prosperity 
in  the  land.  Days  were  when  trade  by  Christians  and  Jews  was 
fostered,  when  the  rulers  of  the  country  understood  the  art  of  govern- 
ing; but  now  nothing  is  taught  but  the  art  of  misrule,  for  Moslem 
fortunes  are  in  the  hands  of  the  barbarous  Turk. 

It  is  not  the  Christian  alone  of  Syria  that  the  Turk  oppresses ;  the 
Arab  Moslem  is,  if  not  equally,  yet  most  hardly  used.  Many  a  time 
have  the  Arab  Moslems  said  to  Christians,  "  "When  will  you  take  this 
country  and  rid  us  of  our  oppressors  ?  anything  is  better  than  their 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION.  349 

rule."  For  the  Turk  has  no  affinity  of  race  or  language  to  connect 
him  with,  or  give  him  a  right  to  rule,  the  Arab.  He  has  no  power  of 
sympathizing  with  the  Semitic  races,  and  his  religion  is  but  in  the  name. 
The  Arab,  if  we  may  use  such  an  expression,  is  a  Moslem  by  nature ; 
the  Turk  cannot  become  a  Moslem  by  art.  He  is  sent  to  Palestine  to 
govern  badly ;  he  is  given  but  a  small  salary,  and  is  obliged  to  squeeze 
the  people  in  order  to  pay  his  own  officials  and  to  live,  to  reimburse 
himself  for  what  he  has  paid  for  his  appointment  in  the  past,  and  to 
carry  away  with  him  something  for  the  future  wherewith  he  may  buy 
a  higher  appointment,  or  purchase  immunity  for  the  consequences  of  his 
evil  deeds,  should  complaints  be  made  against  his  rule.  The  Turk  can 
never  govern  Palestine  well ;  and  until  he  departs  the  country  must 
remain  half  desert,  half  prison ;  for  it  is  his  policy  to  leave  it  so.  He 
wants  it  to  continue  impoverished,  so  that  it  may  not  tempt  the  cupidity 
of  stronger  nations. 

"We  have  seen  the  actual  working  of  the  Ottoman  despotic  rule  in 
those  provinces  of  Asiatic  Turkey  where  the  majority  of  its  subjects 
are  of  the  same  religion  with  their  conquerors,  but  of  a  different  race. 
The  Arabs  indeed,  are  a  race  incomparably  superior  to  the  Turks, 
and  equal  to  any  European  nation  in  their  capacity  for  a  high  civili- 
zation, for  law  and  government,  science  and  literature,  commerce  and 
industry,  and  the  arts  of  peace.  It  is  only  by  the  ferocious  exercise 
of  warlike  violence,  and  of  a  ruthless  tyranny,  with  rapacity  and 
cruelty  almost  unsurpassed  in  the  most  savage  state  of  mankind,  that 
the  Turks  have  succeeded  in  holding  down  the  nobler  and  more 
intelligent  Arabs  of  Southwestern  Asia.  Egypt,  where  the  govern- 
ment is  mainly  carried  on  by  Arabs,  under  its  Khedive  or  Viceroy, 
has  made  only  too  rapid  progress  in  the  adoption  of  European  improve- 
ments ;  and  Ave  are  told  by  credible  witnesses  that  the  eight  years'  rule 
of  Syria  by  Mohammed  Ali,  Pasha  of  Egypt,  till  his  expulsion  in  1841 
by  British  arms,  was  a  period  which  contrasted  most  favorably  with 
Turkish  rule  before  or  since.  It  is  a  mistake,  therefore,  to  suppose 
that  no  Mohammedan  Government  can  be  a  just,  wise,  or  good  one; 
the  Arabs  and  the  Moors,  from  Bagdad  and  Grand  Cairo  to  Seville 
and  Granada,  have  given  the  world  splendid  examples  of  social  union, 
liberality,  and  culture.  There  may  be  in  store,  perhaps,  for  an  age 
not  very  far  dlstaait,  a  revival  and  regeneration  of  the  Arab  race,  in 
Egypt,  Tunis,  Syria,  and  the  Euphrates  Valley,  not  less  unequivocal 


350  THE   TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 

than  that  of  the  Greek  and  Italian  nationalities.  But  for  this  prospect 
to  be  entertained  at  the  present  day  we  must  reckon  upon  the  speedy- 
disruption  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 

The  foregoing  comments  have  been  purposely  restricted  to  the 
Asiatic  provinces  of  Turkey.  With  regard  to  the  European  Christian 
populations,  Bulgarians,  Greeks,  and  Slavs,  whose  unhappy  situation, 
beneath  the  Ottoman  rod  of  barbarous  brute  force,  has  at  length 
excited  a  high  degree  of  sympathy  in  Christian  nations,  we  do  not 
think  it  needful  to  cite  additional  evidence  of  the  character  of  Turkish 
rule  in  their  oppressed  native  lands  of  Eoumelia,  Bulgaria,  Mace- 
donia, Bosnia,  and  Herzegovina,  in  Crete  and  other  islands  of  the 
Levant.  The  monstrous,  hideous,  portentous  fact  of  the  recent  massa- 
cres and  nameless  outrages  inflicted  upon  thousands  of  the  helpless 
Bulgarians,  with  the  connivance  and  tacit  approval,  if  not  at  the 
instigation,  of  the  Sultan's  Government,  puts  quite  into  the  back- 
ground all  minor  grievances  of  these  sorely-Avronged  Christian  people, 
whose  deliverance  from  the  Turk  is  already  vowed  in  every  honest 
heart.  But  the  ordinary,  incorrigible,  fatal  vices  of  Turkish  adminis- 
tration in  those  parts  of  Europe  should  be  kept  in  mind  with  a  view 
to  political  considerations;  and  it  is  deeply  to  be  lamented  that  gross 
misconceptions  upon  this  subject  should  have  prevailed  during  the 
past  twenty  years.  The  result  has  been  the  waste  of  vast  sums  of 
money  in  those  disastrous  loans  to  the  Government  of  Turkey  which 
have,  perhaps,  rather  precipitated  than  postponed  the  ruin  of  that 
doomed  Empire.  On  this  question  we  may  refer  to  some  statistics  of 
the  average  value  of  imports  and  exports  of  Turkey,  and  of  the 
revenue  returns.  We  see  here  a  decrease  in  the  revenue  of  upwards 
of  fifteen  million  dollars,  and  it  is  significant  that  the  only  items  of 
increase  are  spirits,  judicial  taxes  or  fines,  and  tapous,  or  tax  on  the 
transfer  of  lands,  which  certainly  does  not  point  to  prosperity.  We 
believe  (and  we  arc  borne  out  in  our  opinion  by  many  competent 
authorities  in  Turkey)  that  this  decrease  in  revenue  is  greatly  attribu- 
table to  the  demoralizing  cflfects  of  the  large  foreign  loans,  which  have 
induced  Turkish  capitalists  to  fly  to  the  attractions  of  the  Stock 
Exchange,  instead  of  investing  their  capital  in  the  country.  Many 
landed  proprietors  have  sold  their  estates  simply  for  this  purpose; 
others  have  invested  every  farthing  they  could  scrape  together  in  the 
same  channel,  to  the  detriment  of  their  estates  and  consequently  of 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 


351 


A  Sultan's  Mosque. 


their  tenants,  who  have  languished  for  want  oi  support.  The  worst 
aspect  of  the  case  is  that  much  of  this  money  passes  into  the  hands  of 
foreign  speculators  and  leaves  the  country,  which  thus  becomes  im- 
poverished. Travel  where  one  will  in  any  part  of  Turkey,  and  in 
every  small  town  he  will  find  many  of  the  wealthiest  people  who  can 
think  and  talk  of  nothing  else  but  Turkish  bonds ;  and  there  is  quite 
a  feverish  excitement  on  the  subject.  The  whole  gear  of  the  commer- 
cial machinery  of  the  country  is  put  out  of  working  order  bv  this 
species  of  excitement;  and  when  money  cannot  be  obtained  by  fair 
means  it  is  too  often  found  by  venality. 

With  a  sort  of  blind  fatuity,  the  people  insisted  upon  believing  that 
the  Porte  would  meet  her  liabilities,  and  thus,  when  the  crisis,  which 
might  have  been  anticipated,  was  at  length  realized,  all  trade  and 
enterprise  was  paralyzed.  In  finance,  like  all  other  branches  of 
administration,  Turkey  has  made  great  reforms  within  the  last  thirty 
years ;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that,  notwithstanding  the  reforms  which 
have  been  promulgated,  the  officials  and  administrators  are  more  cor- 
rupt now  than  they  were  then. 


352  THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION. 

Turkey,  in  fact,  exists  for  two  purposes ;  first,  to  act  as  a  dog  in  the 
manger,  and  to  prevent  any  Christian  Power  from  possessing  a  country 
which  she  herself,  in  her  present  state,  is  unable  to  govern  or  protect; 
and,  secondly,  for  the  benefit  of  some  fifty  or  sixty  bankers  and 
usurers,  and  some  thirty  or  forty  pashas,  who  make  fortunes  out  of  its 
spoils.  "VVe  do  not  believe  that  the  Turks  are  more  idle,  wasteful, 
improvident,  and  brutal  now  than  they  were  four  hundred  years  ago. 
But  it  is  only  within  the  last  fifty  years  that  the  efiects  of  these 
qualities  have  shown  themselves  fully.  When  they  first  swarmed  over 
Asia  Minor,  Roumelia,  and  Bulgaria,  they  seized  on  a  country  very 
populous  and  of  enormous  wealth.  For  three  hundred  and  fifty  years 
they  kept  on  consuming  that  wealth,  and  wearing  out  that  population. 
If  a  Turk  wanted  a  house  or  a  garden,  he  turned  out  a  rayah ;  if  he 
wanted  money,  he  put  a  bullet  into  a  handkerchief,  tied  it  into  a  knot, 
and  sent  it  to  the  nearest  opulent  Greek  or  Armenian.  At  last, 
having  lived  for  three  centuries  and  a  half  on  their  capital  of  things 
and  of  man,  having  reduced  that  rich  and  well-peopled  country  to  the 
desert  which  it  now  is,  they  find  themselves  poor.  They  cannot  dig ; 
to  beg,  they  are  ashamed.  They  use  the  most  mischievous  means  to 
prevent  large  families ;  they  kill  their  female  children,  the  conscription 
takes  ofi"  the  males,  and  they  disappear.  The  amount  of  tyranny  may 
be  inferred  from  the  depopulation.  There  are  vast  districts  without 
an  inhabitant,  in  which  are  the  traces  of  a  large  and  a  civilized 
jieople,  great  works  for  irrigation  now  in  ruins,  and  constant  remains 
of  deserted  towns.  There  is  a  city  near  the  frontier,  with  high  walls 
and  large  stone  houses,  now  absolutely  uninhabited ;  it  had  once  sixty 
thousand  inhabitants.  In  government  and  religion  Turkey  is  a  de- 
tritus. All  that  gave  her  strength,  all  that  gave  her  consistency,  is 
gone ;  what  remains  is  crumbling  into  powder.  The  worst  parts  of 
her  religion — hatred  of  improvement  and  hatred  of  the  unbeliever; 
the  worst  parts  of  her  detestable  government — violence,  extortion, 
treachery,  and  fraud — ai-e  all  that  she  has  retained.  Never  was  there 
a  country  that  more  required  to  be  conquered.  We  can  see  no  other 
solution ;  the  Turk  is  utterly  unimprovable.  He  hates  change,  and 
therefore  he  hates  civilization;  he  hates  Europeans;  he  hates  and  fears 
all  that  they  pro])ose.  There  is  not  a  word  of  it  that  does  not  disgust, 
or  irritate,  or  alarm  him.  Nothing  but  force  will  oblige  him  to  give 
it  even  the  appearance  of  execution.     And  what  is  the  value  of 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION.  353 

apparent  reforms  in  a  people  without  an  aristocracy,  without  a  middle 
class,  without  a  public  opinion,  without  the  means  of  communication, 
without  newspapers,  without  even  a  post-office;  accustomed  for  four 
hundred  years  to  plunder  and  oppress  rayahs  and  to  be  oppressed  and 
plundered  by  Sultans,  Pashas,  Cadis,  and  Janissaries  ? 

Down  to  our  time,  the  Turks  governed  a  territory  so  vast  and 
fertile  that,  in  ancient  ages,  it  comprised  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  Syria, 
Greece,  Carthage,  Thrace,  Pontus,  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  Epirus,  and 
Armenia,  besides  other  less  renowned  kingdoms.  The  present  lamen- 
table condition  of  this  fine  territory  arises  from  no  change  in  the 
seasons,  or  default  of  nature.  It  still  stretches  from  34  degrees  to  48 
degrees  of  north  latitude,  within  the  temperate  zone,  and  in  the  same 
parallels  as  Spain,  France,  and  the  best  portion  of  the  United  States. 
Mount  Haemus  is  still  covered  with  abundant  forests;  the  plains  of 
Thrace,  Macedonia,  and  Thessaly  yield  abundant  and  easy  harvests  to 
the  husbandman ;  and  a  thousand  ports,  a  thousand  gulfs  are  observed 
on  the  coasts,  peninsulas,  and  islands.  The  billows  of  those  seas  still 
bathe  the  base  of  mountains  covered  with  vines  and  olive  trees.  But 
the  populous  and  numerous  towns  naentioned  by  ancient  writers  have 
been  changed  into  deserts  beneath  a  despotic  government. 

All  the  authorities  upon  this  country  assure  us  that  the  soil  of  many 
parts  of  Turkey  is  more  fruitful  than  the  richest  plains  of  Sicily. 
"When  grazed  by  the  rudest  plough,  it  yields  a  more  abundant  har- 
vest than  the  finest  fields  between  the  Eure  and  the  Loire,  the 
granary  of  France.  Mines  of  silver,  copper,  and  iron  are  still  exist- 
ing, and  salt  abounds  in  the  country.  Cotton,  tobacco,  and  silk 
might  be  made  the  staple  exports  of  this  region,  and  their  culture 
admits  of  almost  unlimited  extension  thioughout  the  Turkish  terri- 
tory ;  whilst  some  of  the  native  wines  are  equal  to  those  of  Burgundy. 

Almost  every  species  of  tree  flourishes  in  European  Turkey.  The 
olive,  orange,  mastic  fig,  pomegranate,  and  the  laurel  and  myrtle 
are  natural  to  this  soil.  Nor  are  the  animal  productions  less  valu- 
able than  those  of  vegetable  life.  The  finest  horses  have  been  drawn 
from  this  quarter  to  improve  the  breeds  of  Western  Europe ;  and  the 
rich  pastures  of  European  Turkey  are,  probably,  the  best  adapted  in 
the  world  for  rearing  the  largest  growths  of  cattle  and  sheep. 

That,  in  a  region  so  highly  favored,  the  population  should  have 
thus  retrograded  whilst  surrounded  by  abundance;  that  its  wealth 
23 


354 


THE    TURKISH  ADMINISTRATION, 


and  industry  should  have  been  annihilated;  and  that  commerce 
should  be  banished  from  those  rivers  and  harbors  that  first  called  it 
into  existence — must  be  accounted  for  by  remembering  that  even  the 
finest  soU,  the  most  genial  climate  and  all  the  brightest  and  richest 
gifts  of  nature,  are  as  nothing,  when  subjected  to  the  benumbing 
influences  of  the  Turkish  Government  at  Constantinople.  The  Turks 
found,  at  the  conquest  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  splendid  and  substan- 
tial public  and  private  edifices,  which  have  been  barbarously  destroyed, 
or  allowed  to  crumble  beneath  the  hand  of  Time.  Bridges,  aqueducts, 
and  harbors,  the  precious  and  durable  donations  of  remote,  yet  more 
enlightened  generations,  have  all  suffered  a  like  fate ;  and  the  roads, 
even  in  the  vicinity  of  the  capital,  which  in  former  days  maintained 
an  unrivalled  celebrity,  are  now  in  a  broken  and  negected  condition. 
The  cause  of  all  this  decay  is  ascribed  to  the  Turkish  Government,  a 
fierce,  unmitigated  military  despotism,  allied  with  the  fimaticism  of  a 
religion  which  teaches  its  followers  to  rely  only  on  the  sword,  and  to 
disdain  all  improvement  by  labor. 


Modern  Egyptian  Dinner. 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS.  355 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

CONSTANTINOPLE  AND  THE  BOSPHOBUS. 

The  imperial  city  of  Constantine,  which  still  bears  his  name  in 
the  language  of  all  Christendom,  is  called  by  the  Turks,  who  have 
possessed  it  423  years,  Stamboul  or  Istambol.  This  is  a  corruption 
of  the  three  Greek  words,  some  think,  which  mean  "  To  the  City," 
and  which  were  of  course  frequently  heard,  referring  to  the  capital  of 
the  Empire,  among  the  provincial  and  rural  subjects  of  the  Byzantine 
reign.  Ancient  Byzantium  was  founded  by  a  Megarian  Greek 
colony,  in  the  seventh  century  before  Christ.  It  was  the  object 
ot  many  strenuous  conflicts  between  the  Greeks  and  Persians;  and, 
later,  between  the  Spartans,  Athenians,  and  Macedonians;  but  fell 
under  the  conquering  power  of  Rome,  before  the  commencement  of 
our  era.  In  the  year  a.d,  330  the  first  Christian  Emperor  of  Rome 
founded  the  august  city,  which  remained  over  one  thousand  years 
the  Christian  metropolis  of  the  East,  and  which  has  now  been  four 
centuries  the  seat  of  the  Ottoman  rule.  During  half  the  thirteenth 
century  it  was  held  by  the  Western  Crusaders,  under  princes  of  a 
Flemish  house  supported  by  the  naval  power  of  Venice;  but  it  was 
recovered  by  the  Greeks,  who  defended  it  two  hundred  years  longer 
against  their  Mohammedan  foes.  It  might,  even  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, have  been  preserved  to  Christian  Europe,  but  for  the  civil  wars 
in  France  and  England,  which  prevented  the  kings  of  these  nations 
from  joining  in  an  effort  to  repel  the  Turkish  invasion.  The  singularly 
convenient  and  beautiful  position  of  this  famous  city,  at  the  southern 
mouth  of  the  Bosphorus,  on  a  promontory  overlooking  the  land-locked 
Sea  of  Marmora,  has  often  been  remarked.  It  is  separated  by  the 
iulet  of"  the  Golden  Horn"  from  Pera  and  Galata,  the  two  Christian 
suburbs,  the  former  of  which  is  the  abode  of  European  residents  or 
visitors,  and  the  latter  of  Greek  subjects  of  the  Sultan.  On  the 
opposite,  or  Asiatic,  shore  of  the  Bosphorus  is  the  purely  Turkish  town 
of  Scutari.  This  city  is  entirely  surrounded  by  walls  of  brick  and 
stone,  laid  in  alternate  courses,  with  a  circuit  of  nearly  thirteen  miles, 
constructed  by  the  ancient  Roman  Emperors  of  the  East.     Two-thirds 


856  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 

of  the  wall  runs  close  along  the  water's  edge,  on  the  shores  of  the 
Sea  of  Marmora,  from  the  Seven  Towers  to  Seraglio  Point,  the  Bos- 
phorus,  and  the  Golden  Horn.  The  remaining  portion,  which  forms 
a  triple  rampart  behind,  across  the  promontory  occupied  by  Stamboul, 
was  fortified  with  many  towers,  affording  a  variety  of  examples  of 
mediseval  castellated  architecture,  but  now  exhibiting  a  series  of  pic- 
turesque ruins.  There  used  to  be  seven  gates  on  the  land  side  of  the 
city,  twelve  gates  on  the  side  of  the  Golden  Horn  and  harbor,  and 
seven  looking  towards  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  but  some  have  been  walled 
up.  The  unique  geographical  position  of  Constantinople  at  the  south- 
western entrance  to  the  remarkable  maritime  channel  which  connects 
the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  thereby  also  the  ^gean  and  the  Mediterra- 
nean, with  the  Black  Sea,  has  always  been  admired.  The  Bosphorus, 
as  well  as  the  Hellespont  or  Dardanelles — a  strait  bearing  some  points 
of  resemblance  to  the  Bosphorus  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  Sea  of 
Marmora — divides  the  Continent  of  Europe  from  that  of  Asia.  It 
must  ever  continue  to  be,  as  it  has  been  in  all  past  ages,  a  locality  of 
great  commercial  and  political  importance.  The  Imperial  Government 
of  ancient  Kome  had  chosen  the  Greek  Byzantium,  under  the  new 
name  of  Constantinople,  for  the  metropolis  of  its  Eastern  dominion.  A 
separate  Empire  of  the  East — Greek  by  nationality  and  social  civiliza- 
tion. Christian  in  religious  profession,  but  still  Roman  in  the  titles  and 
forms  of  sovereignty — flourished  here  during  nearly  a  thousand  years. 
It  was  shaken,  indeed,  by  the  repeated  attacks  of  the  Saracens,  Tartars, 
and  Seljukian  and  Ottoman  Turks,  successively  overrunning  Western 
Asia  under  the  impulse  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism.  Scarcely  less 
fatal  to  the  Byzantine  Empire,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  were  the 
violent  and  rapacious  Crusaders  from  Western  Europe,  who  came  for 
the  ostensible  purpose  of  repelling  the  Moslem  invaders  of  Palestine  ; 
and  the  mercantile  advantages  of  the  Levant  were  appropriated  by  the 
Genoese  and  Venetians,  who  established  their  naval  and  military  power 
along  these  shores.  At  length,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  me- 
dieval republics  and  feudal  principalities  of  Europe  had  declined  from 
their  old  spirit  of  warlike  enterprise,  or  had  been  superseded  by  mon- 
archies with  a  difl^crcnt  policy,  the  Turks  under  Sultan  Mohammed  II. 
were  permitted  to  conquer  the  whole  of  Roumelia,  with  the  city  of 
Constantinople,  and  all  the  adjacent  provinces  to  the  Danube  and  the 
Adriatic,  which  they  have  kept  in  a  miserable  state  of  wretchedness  to 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 


357 


358  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 

the  present  day.  The  possession  of  the  Bosphorus  is  the  key  to  the 
Turkish  Empire  of  Southeastern  Europe  and  Western  Asia ;  and  in 
explanation  of  this  fact,  we  ajDpend  some  further  topographical  notes, 
which  the  reader  will  understand  more  fully  by  a  reference  to  the  ap- 
propriate map  contained  in  this  volume. 

The  space  included  from  the  Sea  of  Marmora  to  the  Black  Sea,  is 
about  fifteen  miles  in  a  straight  line ;  but  the  voyage  by  steamer, 
through  the  winding  channel  of  the  Strait,  is  several  miles  longer. 
Stamboul,  the  Turkish  city  of  Constantinople,  occupies  the  promon- 
tory at  the  southwestern  extremity  of  the  Bosphorus,  overlooking  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  on  one  side,  and  divided  by  the  inlet  called  the 
Golden  Horn  on  the  other,  from  Pera  and  Galata.  Opposite  this,  on 
the  Asiatic  shore,  is  the  town  of  Scutari,  which  was  founded  in  very 
ancient  times  by  the  Persian  conquerors  of  Asia  Minor.  They  gave  it 
a  name  signifying  "  the  Post  Town,"  as  it  was  either  the  starting-point 
or  the  first  stage  of  a  line  of  couriers  between  remote  parts  of  the 
Persian  Empire ;  but  the  Greeks  called  it  Chrysopolis,  from  the  gold 
brought  here  in  payment  of  tribute.  Scutari  is  a  flourishing  township, 
with  an  hourly  steamboat  communication  across  the  strait,  one  mile 
wide,  to  the  capital  city.  It  contains  eight  mosques,  and  the  vast 
suburban  cemetery  in  which  half  a  million  of  deceased  Turks  lie 
buried,  every  tombstone  of  a  male  adult  being  distinguished  by  the 
ornament  of  a  turban  carved  at  its  summit ;  but  there  is  also  a  pillared 
monument  of  Sultan  Mahmoud's  favorite  horse.  The  reader  of  Hope's 
"  Anastasius  "  may  remember  an  eloquent  passage  of  description  and 
reflection  upon  this  subject.  But  in  our  own  days,  long  since  the  time 
when  that  entertaining  romance  was  written,  Scutari  has  acquired 
some  other  associations  of  mournful  interest.  Here  was  the  military 
hospital,  now  converted  into  a  Turkish  barrack,  where  Miss  Night- 
ingale nursed  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  and  sailors  during  the  Crimean 
War.  The  neighborhood  of  Scutari,  with  the  hill  of  Boulgourlou, 
commanding  a  magnificent  sea  view,  looking  over  the  whole  of  Con- 
stantinople, besides  the  shores  and  islands  of  the  Propontis,  is  the 
frequent  resort  of  parties  from  the  opposite  city. 

Having  now  started  from  the  southern  mouth  of  the  Bosphorus,  to 
ascend  its  channel,  which  bends  alternately  from  east  and  west,  Con- 
stantinople is  left  behind  us.  Adjacent  to  the  suburb  of  Galata  is  that 
of  Tojj-hane,  with  its  artillery  barracks,  cannon  foundry  and  boat- 


CONSTANTINOPLE    AND    THE  BOSPHORUS.  359 

building  yards.  Next  comes  the  Sultan's  palace  of  Dolma-baktche,  a 
name  signifying  "the  bean  garden,"  where  his  Majesty  receives 
Ministers  of  State  and  foreign  Ambassadors.  It  is  an  imposing  edifice 
of  Corinthian  architecture,  surrounded  by  groves  and  fruit  gardens, 
amidst  which  is  also  the  summer  palace  of  Beshiktash,  besides  a 
smaller  mansion,  inhabited  by  the  late  unfortunate  Murad  V.  before 
he  became  Sultan.  On  the  next  projecting  point  of  the  European 
shore  is  the  large  village  of  Ortakeuy,  with  a  mostly  Christian  popula- 
tion; here  are  the  villas  of  some  rich  Armenian  merchants  and 
bankers ;  and  here  is  a  small  chapel  for  the  worship  of  the  Church  of 
England.  The  Turkish  village  of  Beylerbey,  opposite  this  on  the 
Asiatic  shore,  Avas  a  place  of  some  importance  under  the  Byzantine 
Empire. 

As  we  get  clear  of  the  familiar  scenes  within  sight  of  Constantinople, 
the  romantic  charm  of  the  Bosphorus  is  felt  to  take  a  stronger  hold 
upon  imagination.  Its  very  name  is  redolent  of  antique  mythology, 
and  of  those  weird  traditions,  embalmed  in  the  poetry  of  Homer  and 
-3^schylus,  which  seem  rather  alien  to  the  bright  Hellenic  fancy.  The 
"  Bosphorus  "  means  the  "  Passage  of  the  Cow ;"  for  it  was  here,  as  the 
old  fable  ran,  that  poor  lo,  when  Zeus  or  Jupiter  changed  her  into  a 
cow,  was  driven  by  the  tormenting  gadfly  to  swin  across  the  strait. 
These  shores,  and  those  of  the  Euxine  beyond  them,  are  haunted,  too, 
by  mystic  reminiscences  of  the  voyage  of  Jason  and  the  Argonauts  in 
quest  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  the  tragic  passion  of  Medea,  as  well 
as  of  the  labors  of  Hercules  and  other  heroes  and  demigods.  It  is 
probable  that  the  superstitious  fears  of  seamen  in  those  early  ages  of 
the  world  had  been  excited  to  such  wondering  fancies  by  the  singular 
conformation  of  the  strait  and  the  perplexing  variation  of  its  currents. 
There  are  on  each  side  of  the  channel  seven  prominent  headlands, 
with  seven  recesses  or  bays,  these  forming  together,  between  the 
opposite  shores,  what  appear  to  resemble  seven  distinct  lakes,  seeming 
as  if  inclosed  by  the  surrounding  land.  The  general  drift  of  the 
waters  is  from  the  Euxine  southward  to  join  the  Mediterranean ;  but 
there  are  many  cross  currents,  eddies,  and  backwaters,  from  the  inter- 
cepting barriers,  and  a  southerly  wind  often  drives  the  whole  surface 
water  up  the  strait.  These  strange  peculiarities,  with  the  fantastic 
shapes  of  the  mountainous  shores,  were  ascribed  by  the  startled 
mariners  of  antiquity  to  enchantment ;  and  the  Bosphorus  was  to  the 


360  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 

Greeks  a  region  of  supernatural  powers,  like  that  of  Scylla  and 
Charybdis  between  the  Sicilian  and  Italian  coasts. 

The  Castle  of  Europe  and  the  Castle  of  Asia,  Ruraeli  Hissar  and 
Anadolou  Hissar,  confront  each  other  at  a  narrow  part  of  the  Bospho- 
rus,  to  some  extent  inclosing  the  basin  which  is  called  Balta  Liman,  or 
the  "Battleaxe  Harbor."  Rumeli  Hissar,  with  its  massive  towers 
rising  amidst  the  C5'^press  groves  of  an  old  Turkish  cemetery,  on  the 
summit  of  a  bold  rocky  headland,  is  a  monument  of  the  conquest  of 
Constantinople  in  1453.  It  was  constructed  by  Mohammed  II.,  two 
years  before  that  event,  his  predecessor,  Mohammed  I.,  having  already 
built  Anadolou  Hissar  on  the  opposite  bank.  A  chair  of  stone  was 
there  cut  out,  for  the  haughty  warrior  to  sit  and  watch  the  progress  of 
his  work,  for  which  a  thousand  masons,  a  thousand  lime-burners,  and  a 
thousand  other  laborers  were  collected  from  thn  Anatolian  districts. 
The  building  was  laid  out  so  as  to  form  the  shapes  of  the  Arabic  letters 
composing  the  Prophet's  sacred  name.  Its  walls,  thirty  feet  thick  and 
very  high,  frowned  sternly  on  the  gateway  of  Eastern  Christendom; 
the  marble  pillars  and  altars  of  Greek  churches  were  contemptuously 
used  for  the  building,  which  was  finished  in  three  months.  Ihe  towers 
were  mounted  with  huge  guns  throwing  stone  balls  of  six  hundred 
weight,  by  which  the  Turkish  commander  was  able  to  exact  toll  of 
every  passing  ship.  Such  was  the  Ottoman  power,  displayed  at  the 
very  same  place  where  the  Persian  King  Darius,  long  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  saw  his  army  cross  over  into  Thrace. 

The  shores  of  Balta  Liman  have  witnessed  some  important  political 
transactions.  Here  was  the  residence  of  an  eminent  Turkish  Minister, 
Reschid  Pasha ;  and  here,  too,  were  signed  the  commercial  treaty  of 
1838,  the  treaty  of  the  Five  Powers  in  1841,  and  the  convention  of 
1849  concerning  the  Danubian  Principalities.  Northward  of  this,  on 
the  European  side,  is  the  harbor  of  Steuia,  famous  in  Byzantine  his- 
tory; and  we  arrive  next  at  Therapia,  which  contains  the  summer 
residence  of  the  British  Ambassador.  The  name  of  this  place,  like 
that  of  the  Euxine,  and  like  that  of  the  Eumenidos  or  avenging  god- 
desses, is  a  cui'ious  example  of  the  Greek  habit  of  flattering  euphemism 
to  objects  of  their  dread.  Medea,  the  Colchian  princess  and  sorceress, 
was  said  to  have  poisoned  the  herbs  groAving  on  this  spot,  which  was 
thence  called  Pharmakia ;  but  the  Greeks  of  a  later  day  resolved  to 
call  it  Therapia,  the  healing  place,  in  order  to  propitiate  the  super- 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS.  361 


Servian  Women  Decorating  Graves. 


362  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 

natural  powers,  and  so  dispel  tne  mischievous  influence.  No  situation 
is  now  to  be  found  more  pleasant  and  salubrious  than  that  of  Therapia, 
which  has  excellent  hotels  and  boarding-houses,  and  is  the  abode  of 
many  wealthy  foreigners  doing  business  at  Constantinople.  It  is 
renowned  in  naval  history  for  a  great  battle  in  1352  between  the 
Genoese  and  Venetian  fleets. 

Beicos  Bay,  on  the  Asiatic  side,  where  the  British  fleet  lay  some 
weeks  in  the  winter  of  1853,  at  the  opening  of  the  Kussian  war,  is  not 
less  worthy  of  note.     According  to  the  Greek  poetical  story-tellers,  its 
shore  was  the  kingdom  of  the  Bebryces,  ruled  by  Amycus,  the  lord  of 
many  oxen,  who  behaved  rudely  to  the  Argonauts,  and  was  afterwards 
slain  by  Pollux.     A  laurel  grew  above  the  tomb  of  this  discourteous 
prince,  which  had  the  peculiar  property  of  inspiring  madness — a  fit  of 
frantic  insolence — in  every  person  that  plucked  a  leaf;  the  man  would 
incontinently  assail  his  neighbors  with  all  manner  of  abusive  language, 
and  provoke  them  to  deadly  quarrel.     At  Beicos  is  the  site  of  the 
*'  Convent  of  the  Sleepless,"  which  was  so  called  from  its  rule  obliging 
the  monks  to  continue  singing  and  praying  incessantly,  by  day  and 
night,  instead  of  at  stated  hours  of  Divine  service.     To  the  north  of  the 
bay  rises  a  chalk  hill,  five  hundred  and  ninety  feet  high,  called  the 
Giant's  Mountain,  which  is  very  conspicuous.     At  its  foot  lies  Uukiar 
Skelessi,  "  the  Landing-place  of  the  Manslayer,"  where  Mohammed  II. 
landed  on  his  return  from  the  conquest  of  what  is  now  European  Tur- 
key.    The  sumptuous  palace  which  formerly  stood  here  has  been  con- 
verted into  a  paper-mill;  but  Unkiar  Skelessi  is  celebrated  among 
European  statesmen  for  a  treaty  here  concluded  between  Turkey  and 
Russia,  which  has  often  been  discussed,  as  it  related  to  the  closing  of 
the  Dardanelles  against  foreign  ships  of  war.     On  the  summit  of  the 
Giant's  Mountain  is  an  excavation,  only  twenty  feet  long  and  five  feet 
wide,  inclosed  by  a  stone  wall,  and  partly  overgrown  with  bushes. 
This  has  been  variously  called  sometimes  the  Giant's  Cave,  the  Bed  of 
Hercules,  and  the  Grave  of  Joshua ;  but  it  is  regarded  with  veneration, 
and  the  people  hang  clothes  on  the  bushes  to  make  them  efficacious  for 
the  cure  of  diseases.     Below  this  mountain,  a  mile  or  two  farther  on, 
the  promontory  of  Mahdjar  Bournou,  the  ancient  Argyroconium,  pro- 
jects into  the  water.     There  is  a  castle  here,  built  in  1794  by  the 
French  engineer  Monnier,  who  also  constructed  Deli  Tabia,  on  the 
opposite  shore ;  but  the  fortress  of  Mahdjar  has  been  remodelled  and 


CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSFHORUS.  363 

extended.     It  is  the  most  important  portion  of  the  defences  of  the 
Bosphorus  against  an  enemy  coming  down  from  the  Black  Sea. 

The  bay  and  port  of  Buyukdere,  opposite  Mahdjar  Bournou,  demand 
our  passing  attention.     Here  is  the  summer  palace  of  the  Russian 
Embassy,  with  its  beautiful  gardens.     The  wooded  hills  behind  the 
village  present  some  delightful  walks  or  rides  through  the  forest  of 
Belgrade;   and  the  reservoirs  and  aqueducts,  constructed  by  Sultan 
Mahmoud  in  1732,  to  supply  the  northern  suburbs  of  Constantinople 
with  water,  are  works  of  remarkable  magnitude.     North  of  Buyukdere 
and  the  Giant's  Mountain  the  prospect  is  shut  off  by  lofty  mountain 
ranges,  the  terminating  heights  of  the  Hsemus  and  Olympus  groups 
respectively,  in  Europe  and  in  Asia.     They  approach  near  to  each 
other  at  the  two  opposite  points  of  laud,  which  the  Greeks  of  the 
Empire  called  Hieron  and  Serapion.     The  mythical  hero  of  the  Golden 
Fleece  expedition  here  set  up  altars  in  honor  of  the  twelve  Olympic 
deities  on  his  return  from  Colchis.     Temples  of  Zeus  and  Poseidon, 
otherwise  named  Jupiter  and  Neptune,  were  in  due  time  erected  by  the 
Greeks  on  the  promontory  of  Hieron  ;  while  those  of  Serapis  and  Cybele, 
rising  over  the  way,  attested  the  piety  of  Asiatic  worshippers.     This 
part  of  the  strait  was  the  scene  of  many  sharp  conflicts  between  the 
Byzantine  forces  and  those  of  the  barbarian  nations,  Goths,  Huns, 
Heruli,  Varangians  or  Franks,  Russians  and  Tartars,  invading  the 
Eastern  Empire.     In  the  fourteenth  century  the  adventurous  Genoese, 
who  had  already  taken  possession  of  a  suburb  of  Constantinople,  and 
had  established  their  colonies  on  the  Black  Sea  coasts,  held  the  custody 
of  this  passage.     They  beat  off  the  Venetians  and  other  commercial 
rivals,  built  a  castle  on  each  shore,  and  stretched  an  iron  chain  across 
the  strait,   forbidding   any   vessel   to   pass   without   paying  toll  and 
asking  their  permission.     But  the  Genoese  possessions,  here  as  else- 
where, passed  a  hundred  years  later  to  the  Turkish  Sultan.     Hence 
the  Turkish  forts  of  Rumeli  Kavak  and  Anadolou  Cavak  have  taken 
the  place  of  those  which  bore  the  sculptured  arms  of  Genoese  and  By- 
zantine masters.     The  basin  or  harbor  of  Buyuk  Liman,  which  was 
anciently  styled  that  of  the  Ephesians,  is  a  commodious  refuge  for  ships 
escaping  the  storms  of  the  Euxine,  if  they  can  weather  the  points  of 
Fil  Bournou  and  Poiraz  Bournou,  and  get  in  safely.     The  European 
shore,  above  the  fort  of  Karibjeh,  is  a  stony  desert  of  forbidding  aspect, 
known  as  Tashlanjik  among  the  Turks,  but  which  the  Greeks  used  to 


f 

364  CONSTANTINOPLE  AND    THE  BOSPHORUS. 

call  Gypopolis,  or  the  City  of  Vultures.  This  place,  in  fact,  naturally 
abounded  with  that  voracious  species  of  bird,  which  gave  occasion  to 
the  fable  of  the  Harpies.  It  was  here  that  King  Phineas  entertained 
the  Argonauts  with  a  feast,  which  was  stolen  from  their  dishes  as  they 
sat  at  table,  by  those  nasty,  greedy,  winged  monsters  hovering  in  the 
air  overhead.  Leaving  this  dismal  coast,  with  Papaz  Bournou  on  the 
left  hand  and  the  Asiatic  Fanar,  or  lighthouse,  on  the  right  hand,  the 
voyager  passes  out  into  the  Black  Sea.  It  must  have  been  a  fearful 
experience  for  the  timorous  and  unskillful  mariners  of  antiquity ;  even 
the  contemporaries  of  Ulysses  and  -^i^neas,  whose  exploits  of  navigation 
we  read  in  our  Homer  and  Virgil,  would  think  of  a  trip  to  the  Black 
Sea  as  we  may  think  of  one  to  the  North  Pole.  Just  outside  the  Bos- 
phorus  is  a  cluster  of  rocks,  called  the  Cyanean,  from  their  bluish-black 
or  slaty  color,  but  also  the  Symplegades,  or  "  Clashers,"  from  their  ap- 
pearing to  rush  together,  and  to  strike  each  other,  when  viewed  under 
certain  atmospheric  conditions,  which  reflected  light  from  the  dancing 
waves  around  them.  Ships  were  often  wrecked  among  the  Symple- 
gades ;  and  so  it  was  fabled  that  the  Argo,  Jason's  ship,  had  her  tail, 
or  rudder,  cut  off  by  the  rocks  suddenly  closing  in  behind,  in  her  swift 
passage  between  them.  The  more  distant  coasts  of  this  obscure  sea  were 
the  Cimmerian  lands  of  perpetual  darkness,  or  the  enchanted  realm,  in 
which  a  golden  treasure  was  guarded  by  fiery  dragons ;  and  there  were 
savage  inhabitants,  on  some  parts,  who  would  slaughter  the  helpless 
stranger  cast  upon  their  shores.  The  sea  had  therefore  a  bad  name  to 
begin  with ;  but  the  Greeks,  for  the  reason  we  have  explained,  chose 
to  change  this  for  a  good  name,  and  to  call  it  the  Euxine  or  "  Hospita- 
ble," knowing  that  it  was  quite  the  contrary,  but  hoping  that  it  might 
thus  be  persuaded  to  become  hospitable. 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY.  365 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

The  Slavonian  populations  in  Turkey  are  in  overwhelming  majority 
Christian,  belonging  either  to  the  Roman  Catholic  or  to  the  Greek 
Church,  the  latter  preponderating  considerably.  They  are  the  Herze- 
govinians,  the  Bosnians,  the  Bulgarians,  the  Albanians,  the  Servians, 
and  some  Greeks.  The  limits  of  Bulgaria  and  Albania,  as  now 
variously  marked  on  the  maps,  by  no  means  represent  the  confines  of 
the  districts  inhabited  by  those  populations,  it  having  been  the  policy  of 
the  Turk  to  confuse  national  boundaries  and  destroy  national  associa- 
tions and  traditions  as  much  as  possible. 

The  Albanians  were  hill-tribes  more  or  less  bound  up  with  the 
Servs  in  the  time  of  Servian  prosperity,  and  of  allied  race,  "who  came 
down  from  the  mountains,  after  the  fall  of  that  power,  to  people  the 
plains  left  desolate  by  fugitive  Slaves.  They  -were  Roman  Catholics, 
and  the  Turkish  government  "was  willing  to  grant  them  privileges  in 
the  exercise  of  their  religion  which  seemed  unimportant  because 
comparatively  few  in  number.  Those  who  remained  in  the  moun- 
tains retained  their  religion;  but  those  who  settled  in  the  plains 
sought  favor  with  the  Sultan,  and  gained  permission  to  domineer 
over  other  Christians  by  professing  Mohammedanism.  Among  the 
apostate  chieftains  was  the  father  of  Scanderbeg,  who  gave  his  son  to 
be  educated  by  the  Sultan.  The  son  renounced  the  Mohammedan 
faith  and  joined  the  standard  of  John  Hunniades  in  Hungary  and 
fought  the  Turks.  After  a  long  struggle  at  the  head  of  Albanian 
warriors  he  succeeded  in  making  himself  independent;  but  his  adher- 
ents were  not  strong  enough  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  their  religion 
or  their  nationality,  and  soon  after  his  death  no  result  of  his  efforts 
was  left  but  a  fame  more  widely  spread  than  that  of  any  other  leader 
of  the  Christians  in  Turkey. 

The  descendants  of  so  fickle  and  unprincipled  a  people,  with  the 
accumulated  vices  of  an  apostate  race,  are  become  a  by-word  in  the 
neighboring  countries.  These  are  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  plains 
of  Albania,  and  are  to  be  numbered  among  the  Christian  populations 


366 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 


An  Ambassadorial  Audience  with  the  Sultan. 


only  because  they  are  near  kinsfolk  to  the  Roman  Catholic  tribes  who 
live  a  very  free  and  independent  life  in  the  mountains,  whither  the 
Turkish  authorities  dare  not  follow  them,  and  because  there  is  a  ten- 
dency among  them  to  revert  to  the  ancient  faith  sufficiently  marked 
to  make  it  an  open  question  whether  they  would  not  join  and  ma- 
terially help,  while  they  morally  embarrassed,  any  wide-spread  rising 
of  Christians  in  Turkey.  Their  hatred  to  the  Turk  is  bitter,  while  they 
retain  traces  of  sympathy  with  Servs  even  though  they  do  not  scruple 
to  oppress  them  with  a  lawlessness  almost  unknown  to  any  other 
Mussulman  official.  The  southern  Albanians  have  more  in  common 
with  the  Mohammedan  and  Greeks,  but  are  also  profesesdly  Mo- 
hammedan. Both  have  done  as  much  fighting  for  as  against  the 
Turks,  and  were,  long  ago,  before  their  apostasy,  the  only  Christians 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY.  367 

in  the  Turkish  army  in  the  East.  It  may  be  well  apropos  of  the 
Albanians,  to  suggest,  in  few  -words,  the  two  sides  of  the  question 
of  the  Christians  in  Turkey  in  relation  to  the  army.  Favorers  of 
Turkey  remark  upon  the  privilege  enjoyed  by  Christians  of  iramunitv 
from  military  service,  while  the  Turks  and  Mohammedan  populations 
have  to  furnish  a  certain  contingent  although  they  dislike  military 
life.  The  Mohammedans  are  represented  as  justly  jealous  of  their 
Christian  fellow-countrymen  on  this  point.  But  the  other  side  of  the 
question  is  this;  that  although  military  reclamations  fall  heavily  upon 
the  Mussulmans,  the  privilege  of  going  about  armed  is  one  which 
would  be  gladly  purchased  by  the  Christian  population  at  the  same 
price,  while  the  Mussulmans  are  free  from  the  heavy  tax  paid  by  all 
Christian  males  above  three  months  old  for  exemption  from  military 
service,  a  tax  which  often  serves  as  an  excuse  for  extortion.  The 
Sultan  has  announced  that  Christians  will  be  enrolled  in  the  army, 
but  unless  it  be  in  separate  regiments  this  promise  cannot  be  fulfilled, 
since  the  daily  life  and  habits  and  morals  of  Christians  and  Moham- 
medans are  irreconcilable.  Perhaps  the  most  cogent  proof  that  Sla- 
vonian Christians  and  Mohammedans  can  never  peaceably  share  one 
country,  is  the  fact  that  the  former  are  without  blame  and  irreproach- 
able in  the  matter  of  chastity,  while  the  Mussulman,  and  especially  the 
Turk,  allows  and  practices  unbridled  license.  Among  the  former 
women  are  intelligent,  respected,  and  free,  and  among  the  latter  are 
the  degraded  instruments  of  loathsome  vice.  Such  light  and  such 
darkness  cannot  dwell  together. 

The  Bulgarians  come  more  completely  than  the  Albanians  under  the 
description  of  Christians  in  Turkey.  Originally  brethren  of  the  Servs, 
with  whom  they  have  in  common  a  language  which  is  harsh  and  rude 
in  their  mouths,  and  soft  in  the  districts  nearer  to  Italian  influences 
but  which  is  easily  mutually  intelligible,  and  otherwise  identical,  their 
period  of  prominence  came  earlier,  but  they  fell  at  about  the  same  time 
before  the  Turkish  arms.  They  were  only  gradually  subjugated,  and 
were  able  to  make  good  terms  for  themselves,  as  indeed  most  people 
could,  the  tyranny  of  the  Turk  having  everywhere  grown  more  and 
more  grinding  as  lapse  of  time  made  him  feel  more  at  home,  and  privi- 
leged in  his  oppression.  At  first  the  Bulgarians  preserved  their  auto- 
nomy, both  in  State  and  Church,  paying  tribute  to  the  Sultan  ;  but  some 
chieftains  apostatized  so  as  to  share  in  the  power  which  they  found 


368  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

Mussulmans  in  neighboring  countries  arrogated  to  themselves ;  some  were 
driven  into  exile,  some  were  disposed  of,  and  the  great  blow  to  Bulga- 
rian independence  was  dealt  just  a  century  ago,  when  the  Sultan  im- 
posed upon  the  people  a  set  of  bishops  belonging  to  the  corrupt  patri- 
archate of  Constantinople,  creatures  of  the  Turkish  government,  who 
buy  their  sees  and  recoup  themselves  at  the  expense  of  their  flocks. 
The  story  is  the  same  for  all  the  Greek-Church  communities  under  the 
power  of  the  Porte.  The  Christians  suffer  as  much  from  the  religious 
superiors  imposed  upon  them  against  their  will  as  they  do  from  the  civil 
governors  and  their  subordinates.  But  the  subjection  of  the  Bulgarians 
had  not  lasted  long  enough  to  deprive  them  of  all  courage  when  the 
resurrection  of  Greece,  of  the  Moldo-Wallachian  provinces,  and  of  Free 
Servia,  gave  them  spirit  to  bestir  themselves.  Early  in  this  century  a 
movement  began  among  them  for  better  education,  and  now  the  whole 
province  possesses  a  most  respectable  number  of  schools  for  both  boys 
and  girls,  in  which  the  ancient  Cyrillic  alphabet,  the  old  Bulgarian 
language,  and  the  early  version  of  the  Bible,  are  carefully  taught  in 
order  to  help  forwai'd  free  intercourse  with  the  neighboring  Servs.  The 
policy  of  the  Porte  has  been  to  harass  the  people  by  forced  immigra- 
tions from  wilder  portions  of  the  empire ;  but  they  have  steadily  held 
on  their  way,  cultivating  the  marvellously  fertile  plains  which  fall  to 
their  lot,  and  which  would  make  them  wealthy  under  a  good  govern- 
ment, and  with  access  to  European  markets.  They  grow  cotton,  silk, 
and  corn,  in  what  would  be  abundance  but  for  oppressive  taxation,  and 
leave  the  Mussulmans  to  people  the  towns.  In  the  towns,  however, 
many  shopkeepers  are  Christians,  and  the  taxes  are  arranged  so  as  to 
fall  most  heavily  on  the  trades  and  industries  usually  engaged  in  by 
them,  and  not  by  Mohammedans. 

Within  the  last  few  years  the  Bulgarians  have  succeeded  in  insisting 
on  the  fulfilment  of  a  clause  in  the  decree  of  1857,  which  promised  the 
restoration  of  their  ancient  ecclesiastical  privileges,  and  this  is  a  great 
step  towards  regaining  their  civil  freedom. 

The  Mohammedan  population  of  Bulgaria  has  diminished,  partly 
because  they  are  subject  to  military  service,  partly  because  the  intro- 
duction of  steam  has  well-nigh  destroyed  some  of  the  industries  practised 
in  Bulgaria,  such  as  silk  weaving.  The  result  is  that  the  Moham- 
medans are  poorer  than  even  the  Christians,  only  they  are  still  in  a 
position   to  bully  and  rob  their  wealthier  neighbors  with  impunity. 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY.  369 

The  taxes  are  now  raised  partially  from  the  Mohammedan  population, 
and  they  resent  the  injury,  and  revenge  themselves  on  the  Christians, 
murdering  them  or  taking  their  lands  from  them  without  fear  of 
consequences.  For  all  the  professions  of  mixed  tribunals,  and  the 
reception  of  the  evidence  of  a  Christian  in  the  courts  of  law,  nay,  even 
the  device  of  peripatetic  commissioners  to  see  that  these  provisions  are 
carried  out  have  been  tried  and  found  utterly  wanting.  It  is  a  point  of 
faith  with  every  Mohammedan  throughout  Turkey,  that  every  Chris- 
tian is  his  appropriate  victim,  and  the  only  Christians  who  obtain 
justice,  or  unjust  sentences  in  their  favor,  are  those  who  are  wealthy 
and  unscrupulous  enough  to  buy  the  judge  and  not  to  be  afraid  of 
thus  exposing  their  well-being  to  possible  risks.  Of  such  Christiana 
there  are  many  throughout  Turkey,  as  must  needs  be  after  centuries 
of  association  with  Mohammedan  morals,  and  of  grinding  misery. 
These  Christians  are  those  who  dare  complain  and  seek  the  help  of 
consuls  against  Turkish  courts  and  officials,  and  it  is  they,  too,  who 
dare  accept  the  empty  dignity  of  place  in  the  mixed  courts. 

Herzegovina  and  Bosnia  have  commonly  been  spoken  of  together, 
and  they  have,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  under  one  Turkish  Governor. 
The  Sultan  has  now  appointed  a  separate  Governor  for  Herzegovina, 
saying  that  the  differences  in  the  constituents  of  the  populations  of  the 
two  districts  render  this  desirable,  there  being  a  larger  proportion  of 
Mussulmans  to  Christians  in  Bosnia  than  in  Herzegovina.  This  is 
said  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  Sultan  to  grant  to  Bosnians  all  the 
reforms  possible  for  Herzegovina,  But  since  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina 
have  repeatedly  demanded  those  reforms  which  were  promised  by  the 
decree  of  1857  to  all  the  provinces  of  the  Turkish  Empire  alike,  it  is 
not  easy  to  see  what  difference  need  now  be  made  between  these  two 
provinces.  One  great  difference,  however,  there  really  is,  arising 
chiefly  from  the  greater  number  of  Roman  Catholics  in  Bosnia,  who 
are  inclined  to  direct  their  efforts  towards  the  end  of  being  absorbed 
into  the  Catholic  Empire  of  Austria.  Herzegovina  looks  to  the  heads 
of  her  own  race. 

Herzegovina  differed  from  other  branches  of  the  Slavs  at  the  down- 
fall of  the  Servian  Empire,  inasmuch  as  it  secured  to  itself,  for  a  long 
time,  rights  of  popular  self-government,  its  population  feeding  cattle 
on  the  mountains,  as  far  as  possible  from  the  towns  where  the  Turks, 
here  as  elsewhere,  kept  each  other  in  countenance.  The  Sultans,  from 
24 


370  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

time  to  time,  confirmed  their  privileges,  and  even  so  late  as  ten  years 
ago  a  native  chief  was  violently  superseded  in  his  post  of  authority 
by  a  Mussulman  Governor.  Kepeated  efforts  to  destroy  the  bonds 
between  the  people  of  the  province  and  their  old  and  long-acknowledged 
native  leaders,  together  with  the  rapacity  of  Turkish  settlers,  tax 
gatherers,  and  officials  have  caused  the  reiterated  insurrections  which 
have  earned  for  these  populations  a  character  for  turbulence  which  the 
western  nations  have  been  unable  to  conceive  that  a  government  could 
for  so  long  be  bad  enough  to  justify. 

The  Bosnian  nobles  hold  an  ignobly  prominent  position  in  the 
miserable  story  of  Turkish  acquisition  in  Europe.  The  common  peoJDle 
of  the  country  stood  as  staunchly  to  their  faith  as  the  rest  of  their 
brethren,  but  by  some  unhappy,  chance  there  was  among  them  a  class 
of  privileged  nobles  who  preferred  apostasy  to  the  loss  of  position  and 
property,  and  who  at  once,  when  the  struggle  against  the  Turkish 
arms  became  finally  hopeless,  declared  themselves  Mussulmans,  and 
thus,  by  the  law  of  the  Koran,  secured  fresh  and  novel  rights  to  ride 
roughshod  over  the  peasantiy.  But  these  shameless  renegades  did 
not  at  the  same  time  learn  to  love  their  conquerors,  and  thus  Bosnia 
has  within  her  borders  native  Christians  groaning  under  Greek 
bishops  and  Mussulman  officials;  native  Chi'istiaus  strongly  attached 
to  the  Eoman  Church,  and  yearning  after  Austrian  rule;  native 
nobility  thirsting  for  the  day  to  come  when  they  may  find  the  uoe  of 
the  carefully-kept  title-deeds  and  badges  of  nobility  coming  from 
ancient  days ;  and  genuine  Osmauli  Turks,  who  wonder,  perhaps,  that 
the  people  whom  Allah  long  ago  gave  them  as  slaves  and  victims 
should  not  placidly  submit  to  have  their  wives  and  daughters  ravished, 
their  goods  plundered,  and  their  kinsfolk  murdered,  by  them  in 
obedience  to  fate. 

And  now  the  survey  brings  us  to  the  principality  of  Servia,  which 
alone  has  kept  the  name  of  Servia  in  European  geography.  Other 
districts,  commonly  known  as  parts  of  Bulgaria  and  Albania,  are 
known  to  the  Slavs  as  "Old  Servia,"  but  that  is  not  a  name  recognizxd 
by  the  Sublime  Porte.  This  is  the  largest  Slavonic  province  engulii  d 
by  Turkey,  and  numbers  something  like  a  population  of  a  million  and 
a  quarter.  It  is  now,  after  four  hundred  years  of  a  more  utter  subjec- 
tion than  any  other  Turkish  province,  and  then,  after  sixty  years  of 
gallant  struggle,   the   free   principality   of  Servia,   governed   by   its 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 


371 


372  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

hereditary  prince,  whose  peasant  ancestor,  only  two  generations  ago^ 
headed  an  insurrection  and  won  the  title  of  prince  and  a  recognition 
of  his  right  to  reign,  by  the  choice  of  the  nation,  from  the  Sultan. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  Servia  had  already  produced  the  ruling 
dynasty,  and  had  given  name  to  the  Empire,  Some  reason  for  this 
preponderance  over  the  neighboring  tribes  may  probably  make  itself 
clear  to  those  who  learn  that  a  very  complete  and  typical  example  of 
the  village  community  system  overspread  the  whole  of  Servia,  covering 
it  with  a  well-ordered  population,  among  whom  no  differences  of  rank 
existed  to  tempt  the  possessors  into  compromise  with  the  invading 
Turk.  These  oppressors  came  and  seized  fortresses  and  towns.  The 
people  withdrew  into  the  dense  oak  forests  which  clothe  the  undulating 
country,  holding  no  converse  with  the  Turks,  and  visited  by  them 
only  when  either  plunder  was  wanted,  or  gangs  of  laborers  to  execute 
unpaid  tasks  for  the  oppressor.  Generation  after  generation  hero  died 
without  ever  having  seen  a  town,  because  the  most  abject  humbling 
of  themselves  could  not  save  them  from  insult  and  injury  at  the  hands 
of  the  Turks,  and  because  it  was  too  bitter  to  them  to  see  the  strong- 
holds of  their  nation  in  the  hands  of  enemies  from  whom  it  seemed 
hopeless  to  try  to  wrest  them. 

The  peasant  life  Avas  simple.  The  head  of  the  sadrooga  apportioned 
the  work  among  the  men  and  women  of  the  family,  and  the  evenings 
served  for  the  repetition  or  chanting  of  Servian  poems,  either  handed 
down  to  keep  the  memory  of  empire  and  of  heroes  green,  or  newly  com- 
posed by  some  of  the  many  singers  of  the  country,  to  commemorate 
more  recent  deeds  of  valor  against  the  Turk  among  some  neighboring 
tribes.  The  life  was  simple,  disciplined,  and  organized  in  a  way  which 
gave  the  people  regulated  coherence  enough  to  suffer  long,  and  then, 
when  opportunity  came,  to  prove  themselves  strong.  They  did  not 
give  up  their  country  without  a  struggle.  The  fatal  battle  of  Cassova, 
how  looked  back  upon  as  the  last  final  field,  did  not  at  the  time  put  an 
end  to  their  hope  and  resolution.  The  young  Lazarevitch,  successor  to 
Lazar,  who  was  killed  in  that  battle,  made  a  treaty  with  the  Sultan,  by 
which  he  was  to  hold  his  crown  in  fief;  but  at  his  death  the  Turks  de- 
clared that  it  was  impious  to  allow  a  Christian  ruler  to  possess  lands  so 
fair,  and  a  Turkish  garrison  was  sent  to  assert  the  direct  authority  of 
the  Sultan.  The  Servs  allied  themselves  with  Hungary,  and  Belgrade, 
the  city  of  seven  sieges,  was  strengthened,  and  a  fortress  built  at  Semen- 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY.  373 

dria,  a  little  lower  down  the  Danube.  This  great  mass  of  gray  stone 
walls,  with  its  twenty-five  towers,  was  built  to  command  the  junction 
of  the  Morava  and  the  Danube,  looking  on  the  Danube  in  the  direction 
from  which  the  Turkish  host  must  always  approach  it,  and  there  was 
built  through  the  whole  thickness  of  the  wall  a  red  brick  cross,  which, 
the  more  furiously  battered,  has  only  shown  the  brighter  in  contrast  to 
the  gloomy  strength  of  the  stone.  A  fortress  strangely  typical  of  Ser- 
vian, as  of  all  other  persecuted  Christianity,  it  still  remains  to  remind 
the  people  by  whose  aid  and  by  the  help  of  whose  arm  they  have  now 
regained  the  freedom  to  worship  God  in  Christ.  For  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  has  been  the  sobriety  and  patience  of  Christian  faith, 
darkened  and  distorted  though  it  has  been,  that  has  been  the  backbone 
of  the  people,  and  their  eagerness  now  to  learn  the  way  of  God  more 
perfectly  must  not  be  hidden  from  our  eyes  by  the  stories  we  hear  of 
political  struggles  and  intrigue,  nor  of  social  disorder  and  impurity  in 
Belgrade,  whither  people  of  all  countries  and  opinions  have  flocked, 
eager  to  utilize  the  newly  risen  power  for  their  own  ends.  The  heart 
of  the  people  is  sound  and  steady,  and  they  are  guided  by  a  prince  who, 
though  young  and  inexperienced,  has  already  shown  himself  patriotic, 
discreet,  and  firm — a  true  Servian. 

The  alliance  with  Hungary  would  probably  have  been  a  permanent 
one,  and  the  Servians  might  have  had  no  worse  a  history  than  the 
Slavonian  pro\nnces  of  Austria  had  not  Hunniades  told  the  Servian 
leader  that  he  should  require  them  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of 
Rome — of  which  the  Servians  had  an  extreme  horror — while  the 
Sultan  promised  absolute  religious  toleration  and  ecclesiastical  self- 
government  should  they  submit  to  him.  The  choice  seemed  easy,  and 
would  have  been  the  right  one  had  they  had  to  deal  with  any  but  a 
treacherous  power.  They  still  struggled  for  civil  liberty  also,  but  in 
1444  the  battle  of  Varna  made  the  Sultan  master  of  all  but  Belgrade, 
which  was  held  against  him  by  the  Hungarians  till  1522.  The  con- 
fidence of  the  Servians  in  the  liberality  of  the  Turks  was  misplaced. 
Mohammedanism  alone  was  tolerated  ;  the  Christian  churches,  monu- 
ments of  the  piety  and  architectural  skill  of  generations  of  princes  and 
people,  were  used  as  stables ;  the  peasants  were  heavily  taxed  for  the 
support  of  the  8'pahu  or  military  colonists  of  the  Sultan,  and  were 
subjected  to  continual  eorvees;  every  fifth  year  conscription  took  their 
most  promising  boys  to  be  brought  up  in  the  Mussulman  faith  and 


374  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

fight  in  the  Sultan's  armies ;  the  land  was  used  almost  every  year  as 
the  route  for  the  Turkish  armies  in  their  wars  with  Western  Europe, 
and  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child,  nor  houses,  nor  goods,  were  safe. 

The  fall  of  Belgrade,  which  marked  the  triumjDh  of  the  Turks  over 
the  Hungarians,  was  the  signal  for  even  increased  extortion  and 
violence  on  the  part  of  the  spahis,  committed  not  by  virtue  of  law, 
but,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning  and  is  now  throughout  Turkey,  because 
the  Turks  are  utterly  lawless,  and  no  central  authority  can  ever  ensure 
liberty  and  justice  in  the  provinces.  For  a  hundred  and  sixty  years 
thick  darkness  covered  the  land ;  but  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  Leopold  of  Germany  attacked  the  Turks,  and  the  Servians 
rose  to  help  him,  and  in  1718  they  were  ceded,  by  the  treaty  of  Pas- 
sarovitz,  to  Austria,  under  whom  they  had  peace  for  twenty  years. 
They  lost  no  moment  of  this  breathing-space,  but  made  roads,  restored 
churches,  and  did  all  they  could  to  repair  the  losses  of  former  times. 
But  the  end  came,  and  Austria,  too  weak  to  hold  the  country  against 
the  Turks,  had  to  abandon  them  once  more  to  their  old  exasperated 
foes  the  spahis.  In  despair  thirty -seven  thousand  families,  headed  by 
George  Brankovitch,  fled  to  Austrian  territory,  on  a  bargain  that 
they  Avere  to  have  a  large  amount  of  freedom  in  self-government,  both 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  and  were  in  return  to  guard  the  Austrian 
boundaries.  The  Servs  of  Austria  complain  that  this  bargain  was 
never  kept ;  but  with  their  grievances  we  have  nothing  at  present  to 
do.  They  certainly  were  never  in  such  dismal  case  as  those  who 
remained  on  the  national  soil. 

As  the  century  grew  older,  however,  the  utter  subjection  of  Servia 
to  the  Turks  brought  some  good  results.  The  rights  of  the  spahis 
were  more  clearly  defined,  feudal  service  was  no  longer  forced  from 
the  peasantry,  and  many  fought  with  willingness,  if  not  with  enthusiasm 
in  the  Moslem  armies.  But  the  spirit  of  patriotism  was  not  dead. 
When  a  reforming  Sultan  ascended  the  throne  and  resolved  to  intro- 
duce European  tactics  and  discipline  among  his  troops,  the  Janissaries 
rebelled,  and  among  the  most  insubordinate  were  those  who  had  long 
exercised  authority  in  Servia.  They  set  the  civil  representative  of  the 
Porte — the  pacha  of  Belgrade — at  defiance,  and  the  order-loving 
Servians  answered  to  the  appeal  of  the  Sultan  and  drove  the  rebels 
from  the  country.  At  once  all  Turkey  was  in  an  uproar;  the  Sultan 
had  employed   "dogs  of  Christians"  to  defeat  true  believers.     The 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 


375 


Janissaries  were  at  once  reinstated,  and  rode  roughshod  over  Servian 
and  spahi  alike.  They  cried  to  the  Sultan  in  vain,  and  the  result  of 
this  falling  out  among  thieves,  was  that  the  honest  Servians  began  to 
come  by  their  rights.  Belgrade  fell  into  their  hands,  they  claimed 
the  right  to  garrison  their  own  fortresses,  and  other  rights,  and  would 
have  received  them  in  return  for  a  yearly  tribute  had  not  the  rise  of 
Napoleon's  fortunes  emboldened  his  ally  the  Sultan.  The  leader  of 
this  period  was  Kara  or  Black  George,  a  peasant  of  strong  character, 


376  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKE  Y. 

ruthless  determination,  and  considerable  military  experience,  able  in 
civil  matters  too,  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  people  at  that  stage. 
He  called  together  the  national  assembly,  or  Skouptchina,  aDoointed 
a  senate,  and  revived  the  laws  of  Dushan. 

It  is  needless  to  follow  the  varying  fortunes  of  the  struggle,  which 
lasted  till  Kara  George  and  his  senate  were  forced  to  fly  across  the 
border  into  Austria,  and  the  Sultan's  troops  set  themselves  to  pacify 
the  country  by  impaling  the  native  leaders,  throwing  infants  into 
boiling  water  and  into  cesspools  in  derision  of  baptism,  and  other 
similar  modes.  The  Sultan  then  found  in  Milosch  Obrenovitch,  a 
well-known  Servian,  a  mediator  between  him  and  the  furious  people. 
Terms  Avere  arranged,  and  in  1815  the  treaty  of  Bucharest  gave  to 
Servia  freedom  of  worship,  of  commerce,  of  self-administration,  of 
self-taxation  for  the  imperial  treasury,  of  garrisoning  her  towns, 
and  of  administering  the  estates  of  such  spahis  as  refused  to  sell  the 
lands  on  which  in  future  they  were  forbidden  to  live.  But  Milosch 
was  not  proof  against  the  temptations  of  power.  He  abused  his 
princely  dignity,  was  driven  from  the  country,  and  Kara  George 
having  been  invited  to  return  but  having  been  murdered  on  the  way, 
Milosch 's  son  Michael  was  raised  to  the  throne.  He  was  young  and 
untrained,  and  three  years  served  to  show  that  he  could  not  govern 
the  people.    He  abdicated,  and  went  to  Germany  and  France  to  study. 

The  Servians  chose  as  his  successor  Alexander,  son  of  Kara  George ; 
but  he  also  failed  to  satisfy  either  the  Sultan  or  the  people,  and  was 
compelled  to  abdicate  in  1858.  Milosch  was  then  invited  to  return, 
and  ruled  about  a  year  and  a  half  with  some  vigor,  organizing  a 
national  militia  almost  equivalent  to  an  arming  of  the  entire  nation. 

On  his  death  his  son  Michael,  now  older  and  wiser,  succeeded  to  a 
difficulty  caused  by  the  remonstrances  of  the  Sultan,  Austria,  and 
England,  against  the  new  militia.  Then  he  was  involved  by  an  immi- 
gration of  fugitives  from  Turkish  oppression  in  Bulgaria  and  Bosnia ; 
but  he  stood  his  ground,  and  succeeded  in  winning  for  his  government 
the  love  of  the  kindred  populations  beyond  his  borders,  and  a  steadily 
growing  respect  from  the  great  Powers.  In  June,  1862  a  storm  burst 
over  his  head  which  brought  him  in  the  end  perfect  independence,  ex- 
cept so  far  as  concerned  the  x-etention  of  two  Turkish  garrisons  in  the 
country,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  suzerainty  and  a  tribute  to  the 
Sultan.     This  was  the  treacherous  bombai'dment  of  the  town  by  the 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY.  377 

fortress  of  Belgrade  under  pretext  of  a  scuffle  between  a  few  Turkish 
soldiers  and  some  youths.  The  exasperated  Servians  held  themselves 
in  perfect  quietness,  trusting  to  Michael's  diplomacy  and  the  good  feel- 
ing of  Europe  to  secure  them  against  the  repetition  of  such  an  outrage, 
and  their  hope  was  not  in  vain.  Michael  continued  to  develop  the 
resources  of  the  country ;  churches  were  rebuilt ;  schools,  primary  and 
higher,  and  technical,  and  colleges  and  a  university  Avere  opened ;  and 
mines  and  railways  were  projected.  In  1867  the  last  Turkish  garrison 
was  withdrawn ;  and  now  a  tribute  of  $115,000  per  annum  is  the  only 
link  between  the  Porte  and  the  Free  Servs  of  Servia. 

In  18G8  Prince  Michael,  who  Avas  struggling  to  keep  the  balance 
between  a  somewhat  strong  conservative  ministry  and  the  liberal,  if 
not  radical  demands  of  his  people,  was  shot  down  in  his  garden,  as  it 
was  subsequently  pretty  clearly  proved,  by  an  agent  of  the  party  who 
wished  to  bring  Alexander  Kara  Georgevitch  back  to  the  throne.  His 
death  left  a  successor  who  was  a  minor ;  but  the  ministry  vigorously 
held  on  in  the  path  of  improvement,  and  were  able  to  give  a  good 
account  when  the  present  prince  Milan  ascended  the  throne  in  1871. 
He  has  established  a  firm  hold  on  the  affections  of  the  people,  and  the 
internal  resources  of  the  country  are  being  rapidly  developed. 

To  Montenegro  alone  belongs  the  proud  boast  that  it  has  never  been 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Turks,  has  never  been  inhabited  by  them, 
has  never  agreed  to  pay  tribute  to  them,  but  has  kept  up  a  perennial 
struggle  with  them  ever  since  the  fall  of  the  Servian  Empire.  It  is 
but  a  little  State,  and  perhaps  it  owes  its  independence  scarcely  more 
to  the  hardy  vigor  of  its  sons  than  to  the  fact  that  it  consists  just  of  a 
knot  of  the  Balkans,  a  place  where  the  native  saying  is  that  God,  in 
sowing  the  earth  with  rocks,  dropped  the  bag.  Its  bare  rocks  and 
severe  climate  have  always  been  its  strong  allies  against  the  Turk,  and 
its  inhabitants  have  never  so  aggregated  wealth  around  them  as  to  be 
unwilling  to  burn  homes  and  crops  rather  than  leave  them  as  prey  to 
the  invading  Turks  when  there  was  nothing  left  for  it  but  flight  to  the 
roughest  heights.  At  first,  after  the  battle  of  Cassova,  the  chief  of  the 
Province  of  Zeuta  owned  much  of  Herzegovina,  and  fought  hand  in 
hand  Avith  the  Albanians.  But  Scanderbeg's  death  left  him  alone,  and 
Ivo  the  Black  retreated  to  the  mountains  which  now  are  the  whole  of 
Montenegro.  Even  the  seacoast  had  to  be  abandoned,  though  only  a 
rifle-shot  from  the  southern  limit  of  the  mountains  is  Bocche  di  Cat- 


378  CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 

taro,  tlie  finest  haroor  iu  Europe,  the  natural  outlet  for  Slav  commerce, 
for  Avliich  Slavs  have  longed  and  fought  for  four  centuries,  but  which 
still  lies,  Avell-nigh  unused,  before  their  tantalized  eyes. 

For  a  century  the  fugitives  found  their  mountains  a  secure  retreat, 
and  their  bravery  and  advantageous  position  made  them  desirable 
allies.  Venice  Avas  not  reluctant  to  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship 
to  the  highlanders,  and  many  alliances  were  formed  between  the  no- 
bility of  the  two  States.  But  such  a  friendship  was  not  without  its 
drawbacks  ;  for  the  Venetian  brides  lured  their  husbands  to  the  luxury 
of  their  own  old  homes ;  and  finally,  in  1516,  the  Prince  of  Montenegro 
left  the  government  in  the  hands  of  German  Petrovitch,  Bishop  (of  the 
Greek  Church)  of  Montenegro.  In  his  family  it  has  ever  since  been 
hereditary,  descending  first  from  uncle  to  nephew,  and  only  in  this 
century  going  in  the  usual  order  of  descent,  since,  in  1852,  Danilo 
resolved  to  abolish  the  law  of  celibacy  as  incumbent  on  the  prince,  and 
married  a  Viennese  lady  whose  life  was  one  of  far-sighted  benevolence, 
and  who  did  more  than  perhaps  any  other  to  aid  the  cause  of  education 
throughout  Slavonian  lands,  and  to  steady  the  course  of  Slav  policy. 

Throughout  these  centuries  the  story  of  Montenegro  has  been  purely 
that  of  hard-won  victory  against  the  Turks.  No  instance  of  truce  or 
treaty  with  the  Turks  has  occurred  without  its  following  of  treacherous 
betrayal.  In  1703  Peter  the  Great  thought  it  worth  while  to  secure 
Montenegro  as  his  ally,  but  he  too  betrayed  the  principality  to  its 
enemies.  The  Turks  came  and  devastated  the  country.  Venice 
refused  her  aid,  and  paid  the  penalty  of  the  loss  of  her  provinces  from 
Bosnia  to  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth,  and  the  struggle  ended  with  a  siege 
of  seven  years  sustained  by  Montenegro.  In  the  end  of  last  century 
Russia  and  Austria  began  to  intrigue  against  each  other  for  the  friend- 
ship of  the  little  State,  and  their  rivalry  has  ever  since  been  a  valuable 
tool  in  the  hands  of  the  rulers  of  Montenegro.  In  1813  Cattaro,  which 
had  submitted  to  Venice,  when  Ivo  retired  to  the  mountains,  on  the 
bargain  that  it  was  never  to  be  given  to  any  other  power,  found  that 
Napoleon,  as  conqueror,  had  ceded  it  to  Austria.  Resenting  this,  it 
strove  to  join  the  mountaineers,  but  failed.  Prince  Daniel  had  done 
all  he  could  to  help  it ;  and  on  seeing  that  Austria  had  tightened  her 
grasp  on  what  should  have  been  his  seaport,  he  retired  to  his  little  capi- 
tal of  Cetign6,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  improvement  of  his  pcoi)le. 
Ilis  successor,  Peter  II.,  obtained  from  European  powers  a  frontier 


CHRISTIANS  IN  TURKEY. 


379 


treaty,  which  was  the  first  formal  recoguition  of  his  country  by  diplo- 
matists. Under  him  rapid  advance  was  made  in  the  essentials,  though 
not  in  the.  external  comforts  of  civilization.  It  will  not  do  to  live  a 
less  rigorous  life  till  the  country  is  secure  from  Turkish  inroads ;  but 
schools  were  multiplied,  roads  made,  and  some  barbarous  practices  in 
war  done  away  with.  The  custom  of  cutting  off  the  heads  of  dead 
enemies  has  not  yet  been  quite  given  up,  because  the  Turks  of  the 
neighboring  lands  would  misconstrue  such  humanity  as  cowardice. 

Danilo  projected  a  code  of  laws,  and  disregarded  all  provocations  to 
war  with  the  Sultan  till  an  actual  invasion  compelled  him  to  take  up 
arms ;  and  the  victory  of  Grahovo,  in  1858,  secured  for  him  a  commis- 
sion of  great  powers  to  fix  the  boundaries  between  Montenegro  and 
Turkey.  Some  fertile  districts  were  awarded  to  him,  but  no  seaport; 
and  he  was  not  required  to  acknowledge  the  suzerainty  of  the  Porte. 
In  1859  he  was  murdered,  when  at  Cattaro  for  his  wife  s  health,  and 
never  was  prince  more  deeply  mourned.  His  people  flocked  down  the 
precijjitous  zigzag  road  to  Cattaro  to  demand  vengeance  when  he  lay 
dying ;  but  his  message  was  that  they  should  go  quietly  home.  It  was 
a  long  time  before  gay  dress  or  weapons  or  festive  gatherings  api:»cared 
in  the  mountains.  His  successor  was  the  present  reigning  Prince 
Nicholas,  who  was  only  eighteen  years  of  age ;  but  who  has  vindicated 
his  fitness  for  the  difficult  post  by  great  wisdom  and  prudence.  Under 
Montenegrin  skies  education  is  fostered  as  in  all  other  Servian  commu- 
nities, all  forms  of  religion  are  free,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  is 
being  spread  as  might  be  expected  in  a  country  the  capital  of  which 
contains  only  a  hundred  houses,  which  found  purchasers  for  thirty-two 
copies  of  the  Bible  at  one  visit  thither  of  a  colporteur. 


380  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

EVENTS  PRECEDING  THE  WAB. 

In  Herzegovina  the  harvest  of  1874  was  a  bad  one,  and  the 
peasantry  foresaw  a  hard  winter  before  them.  The  tax-collectors, 
agents  of  the  officials  who  farm  the  taxes,  require  the  agriculturists 
to  keep  the  crops  standing  until  it  suits  their  convenience  to  come 
and  levy  the  tithe  due  to  the  Sultan,  estimating  the  crops  as  standing 
damaged  there  to  be  worth  the  highest  Constantinople  market  prices. 
But  in  one  district  the  tax-gatherer  did  not  come  till  January,  1875, 
when  hunger  had  compelled  the  sale  and  the  eating  of  parts  of  the 
crops.  The  tax-gatherer  estimated  the  tax  at  an  enormous  sum;  the 
people  resisted  his  demands;  they  were  robbed,  beaten,  imprisoned, 
and  their  chiefs  threatened  with  arrest  when  they  complained.  Some 
fled  to  the  mountains  of  the  neighboring  independent  State  of  Monte- 
negro, secure  to  find  shelter  among  people  of  the  same  faith  and 
race.  They  found  the  leading  Montenegrins  at  the  capital,  Cettinje, 
consulting  how  to  act  with  reference  to  a  Turkish  infraction  of 
boundary  rights,  and  were  welcomed  as  fellow-sufferers. 

During  their  absence  another  district  of  Herzegovina  was  roused  to 
discontent  and  resistance  by  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  the  police  and  by 
the  way  in  which  forced  labor  was  imposed  by  them.  The  district 
authorities  reported  to  their  superior,  and  gendarmes  were  sent  to  com- 
pel submission.  Other  neighboring  districts  were  quiet ;  but  the  clergy 
of  some  Roman  Catholic  districts,  whose  ancient  privileges  had  never 
been  confirmed  by  the  present  Sultan,  stirred  their  flocks  to  support 
the  dignity  of  their  religion  against  threatened  inroads  on  the  part  of 
the  local  authorities. 

Just  then  the  Emperor  of  Austria  visited  his  province  of  Dalmatia, 
■which  is  peopled  by  Slavs,  the  near  kinsmen  of  the  Hcrzegovinians, 
and  borders  on  Herzegovina  to  the  southwest.  His  visit  had  a  political 
significance  in  the  eyes  of  the  simple  peasantry,  who  hoped  that  he  had 
come  to  see  how  best  to  help  them  against  their  oppressors.  He  prob- 
ably had  no  such  aim,  but  his  visit  encouraged  them  nevertheless. 

The  gendarmes  arrived  in  rebellious  Nevesinje  at  the  end  of  April ; 


EVENTS  PRECEDING   THE   WAR. 


381 


A  Woman's  Normal  School  in  Constantinople, 


the  Christians  fled  to  the  mountains,  their  chiefs  to  Montenegro.  The 
gendarmes  went  on  to  Bilec ;  but  here  the  peasantry  offered  only  a 
passive  resistance  to  their  entering  the  villages,  and  refused  to  appear 
before  the  local  authority.  The  flame  broke  out  here  on  a  Christian 
woman  suffering  insult  at  the  hands  of  a  gendarme.  A  pasha,  Yali 
Selim,  had  already  been  despatched  by  the  governor  of  Bosnia  to 
inquire  into  the  result  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria's  visit  to  Dalmatia. 
and  was  instructed  to  give  the  discontented  population  the  alternative 
of  returning  submissively  to  their  homes  or  of  emigrating  to  Monte- 
negro. They  refused  to  deal  with  any  but  an  envoy  direct  from  the 
Sultan ;  being  not  rebellious  against  his  authority,  but  compelled  to 
defend  themselves,  their  families,  ar.d  their  property,  from  his  Mussul- 
man officials  of  the  same  race  as  themselves. 

It  was  as  yet  two  small  districts  only  that  were  involved  ;  few  were 
even  interested  in  their  affairs.  But  the  refugee  chieftains  were  incon- 
venient to  jNIonteuegro,  and  safe-conducts  were  procured  by  Frince 
^N'icholas  for  their  return.     The  Turkish  frontier-guards  attacked  them 


382  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

in  spite  of  their  passports,  and  a  second  application  was  necessary  te 
get  them  across  the  border.  On  their  return  home  they  were  left  com- 
paratively unmolested,  merely  having  some  of  their  houses  burned,  one 
being  assaulted  in  the  bazaar,  another  killed  as  he  left  the  court  in 
which  he  had  complained  of  the  assault,  another  being  murdered  in  his 
field,  and  an  innkeeper  who  had  entertained  them  paying  for  his  hos- 
pitality with  his  life.  The  authorities  made  no  sign  of  any  intention 
to  punish  these  outrages,  but  still  there  was  no  general  outbreak.  Iso- 
lated attacks  were  made  on  single  Turks,  and  the  matter  became  grave 
enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  Porte.  Accordingly  the  mufti 
of  the  Slavic  Mussulmans  was  removed,  but  not  punished,  and  a  very 
obnoxious  bishop,  with  Turkish  leanings,  was  transferred  to  a  better 
post.  The  neighboring  villagers  armed  themselves,  but  remained  quiet, 
waiting  to  see  what  would  happen,  doing  their  ordinary  work  all  day, 
but  guarding  the  roads  at  night  against  any  surprise  on  the  part  of 
government. 

This  was  about  midsummer.  At  last  a  conference  was  held  between 
representatives  of  the  Sultan  and  the  people,  who  also  insisted  ui:)on 
the  presence  of  an  envoy  from  Montenegro.  The  demands  made  by 
the  peasants  were  for  things  promised  them  by  the  famous  decree  or 
hattisherif  of  1857:  that  Christian  women  and  girls  should  be  safe 
from  Turkish  insult ;  that  they  should  have  liberty  to  exercise  their 
religion ;  that  Christians  and  Mohammedans  should  be  equal  before 
the  law  ;  that  the  excesses  of  the  police  should  be  restrained ;  that  the 
taxes  should  be  justly  and  seasonably  levied.  The  Mohammedans 
thought  these  demands  exorbitant,  and  endeavored  to  browbeat  the 
Christians  into  some  abatement  of  them,  but  in  vain  ;  and  when  Der- 
vish Pasha,  governor  of  Bosnia,  came  to  add  his  Avisdom  to  the  council, 
the  people  demanded  further  the  long-promised  freedom  from  forced 
labor  without  payment. 

The  Pasha  promised  to  do  his  utmost  to  obtain  for  them  their  rights 
if  they  would  lay  down  their  arms,  but  they  said  that  could  only  be 
if  they  and  their  INIussulman  neighbors  were  meanwhile  separated.  The 
Pasha  retired  to  his  capital,  and  the  Christians  fled  with  their  families 
and  goods  to  the  mountains.  The  Mussulmans  broke  into  the  govern- 
ment store,  and  armed  themselves  with  breech-loaders  ;  the  neighboring 
districts  still  holding  themselves  quietly  in  readiness. 

On  the  first  of  July  some  Christians  who  had  been  driven  from  their 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR.  383 

rough  mountain  refuges  by  illness  were  killed  at  Nevesinje  by  the 
armed  Mussulmans;  the  Chiistians  revenged  themselves,  and  then 
seized  on  a  baud  of  froutier-guards  escorting  provisions.  The  small 
engagements  were  repeated,  aud  in  one  of  them  a  body  of  Turkish 
troops  took  part.  This  precipitated  a  general  rising.  But  the  insur- 
gents were  not  united  ;  no  leader  had  yet  appeared  among  them  ;  and 
an  "advanced  radical"  agent  of  a  Servian  republican  society  who 
aspired  to  the  leadership  met  with  only  scant  courtesy  from  the  native 
chiefs.  The  Roman  Catholic  districts  were  i^ersuaded  to  lay  doAvn  their 
arms;  the  government  having  been  couviuced  of  the  power  of  the 
clergy,  who  here,  as  elsewhere,  Avere  anxious  rather  to  maintain  their 
own  authority  in  obedience  to  Rome  than  to  help  forward  any  move- 
ment for  the  good  of  their  people. 

Towards  the  end  of  July  it  appeared  that  a  Greek-Church  official 
was  unwilling  to  allow  his  people  to  join  the  insurgents,  and  asked  the 
government  for  soldiers  to  help  him ;  but  the  Mussulmans  said  that  for 
them  and  Christians  to  fight,  fall,  and  possibly  be  buried  together,  was 
an  intolerable  thing,  and  so  the  Christians  of  that  district  swelled  the 
numbers  of  the  insurgent  army. 

In  the  early  part  of  August  the  insurgents  surrounded  Trebigne. 
A  few  weeks  later,  a  rising  took  place  in  Turkish  Croatia,  a  district 
inhabited  by  a  Slavic  population,  belonging  chiefly  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  aud  Greek  Churches.  In  the  meantime  the  Euroj^can  powers 
turned  their  attention  to  the  insurrection.  Ambassadors  from  Austria, 
Germany,  and  Russia,  conferred  with  the  Grand  Vizier,  and  advised  a 
suspension  of  hostilities,  but  the  Porte  refused  his  assent.  However, 
at  the  suggestion  of  the  six  great  powers,  the  Porte  subsequently 
commissioned  Server  Pasha  to  inquire  into  the  grievances  of  the 
insurgents ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  foreign  consuls  were  forbidden 
giving  the  insurgents  any  hope  or  promise  of  foreign  assistance. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  Turks  drove  the  insurgents  from 
Trebigne  into  the  mountains ;  but  a  Turkish  detachment  of  twelve 
hundred  men,  which  was  sent  to  Biletj,  fifteen  miles  distant,  were 
lured  into  an  ambush  and  severely  defeated,  a  small  remnant  only 
reaching  Trebigne.  Five  days  later  another  Turkish  force  was  defeated 
in  the  same  locality.  Elated  with  success,  the  Insurgents  on  the  14th 
of  September  made  an  attack  upon  Biletj,  but  were  routed  by  a 
greatly  superior  force.     On  the  same  day  they  captured  the  Turkish 


384  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

earthworks  at  Bobe,  twenty  miles  northeast  of  Trebigne,  and  pursued 
the  garrison  as  far  as  Lubigne,  where  they  seized  a  large  quantity  of 
stores  and  ammunition. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring,  the  foreign  consuls  assembled 
at  Mostav,  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  Server  Pasha  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  insurgents ;  but  the  latter,  not  making  their  appearance, 
the  consuls  sought  the  insurgents  in  their  strongholds,  and  advised 
them  to  submit  to  the  Porte.  Their  efforts  at  pacification,  however, 
met  with  no  success.  A  number  of  Herzegovinians,  Avho  had  fled  into 
Austria,  addressed  a  manifesto  to  the  consuls,  setting  forth  their 
grievances,  declining  the  mediation  of  the  European  powers,  and 
demanding  their  liberation  from  Turkish  rule. 

In  the  early  part  of  September  the  following  "firman"  or  edict  was 
issued  by  the  Sultan  to  the  governor-generals  of  the  provinces: 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  welfare  of  the  country  and  the  well- 
being  of  its  inhabitants  have  for  their  general  basis  the  security  of 
property,  life,  and  honor,  of  each  one.  This  security  can  only  be 
obtained  by  a  good  and  impartial  administration  of  justice.  This  was 
the  sense  of  our  last  imperial  hasti  to  our  Grand  Vizier,  which  read  as 
follows:  *As  the  good  administration  of  affairs  in  our  Empire,  the 
welfare  of  the  country  and  the  happiness  of  its  inhabitants,  is  the 
object  of  all  our  care,  it  is  our  wish  that  an  eflTective  protection  and 
equal  justice  be  enjoyed  by  all  classes  of  society  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  rights  and  the  honor  of  all  be  secured.  As  the  ministry  of 
justice  represents  one  of  the  most  important  departments  of  state,  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  that  it  proceed  in  conformity  with  our  well- 
meaning  intentions.  We,  therefore,  order  that  these  intentions  be 
proclaimed  and  be  fully  executed.'  Our  orders  and  our  later  instruc- 
tions are  only  issued  to-day,  in  order  to  confirm  our  above-mentioned 
sovereign  intentions.  Their  execution  depends  on  the  honest  and 
energetic  efforts  which  must  be  displayed  by  all  dignitaries,  whether 
they  are  judges  or  administrative  officers,  as  well  as  on  their  willing- 
ness to  produce  a  beneficial  change  of  affairs.  All  public  officers,  and 
particularly  those  who  are  intrusted  with  judicial  functions  at  the 
courts  of  the  Scheri,  and  the  civil  courts,  either  in  the  capital  or  in 
provinces,  must  particularly  see  to  it  that  the  trials  are  conducted 
impartially,  and  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  Scheri  and  the 
other  laws  in  general,  that  all  our  subjects  without  distinction  may 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 


385 


386  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

enjoy  the  greatest  security  and  justice.  This  is  our  decided  imperial 
wish.'  After  the  preceding  was  brought  to  the  notioe  of  each  one  of 
my  Governor-Generals,  our  present  sovereign  order  proceeded  from 
our  imperial  divan,  and  at  the  same  time  that  you  in  your  position  as 
Governor-General  will  receive  this  order  you  will  also  receive  a  list  of 
those  acts  which  may  have  been  committed  contrary  to  the  laws  of  my 
Empire,  and  with  the  knowledge  of  all  the  world.  Upon  the  receipt 
of  my  imperial  firman,  you  will  hasten  to  bring  these  instructions  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  judiciary  as  well  as  the  administrative  officers, 
and  all  of  our  minor  ofiicers,  in  the  capital  and  all  the  districts  of  the 
vilayet,  and  you  will  see  that  our  orders  are  promptly  executed.  It 
is  understood  that  the  ofiicers  will  be  treated  according  to  their  good 
or  bad  behavior.  The  Sublime  Porte  will  take  such  measures  as 
may  seem  necessary  to  keep  informed  on  the  course  of  public  affairs, 
as  you  know  that  the  least  infringement  or  neglect  of  our  imperial 
orders  will  bring  on  you  a  heavy  responsibility ;  you  must  act  accord- 
ingly. You  will  take  care  to  bring  to  the  notice  of  our  Sublime  Porte 
all  those  ofiicers  who  act  contrary  to  our  command." 

In  October  an  imperial  ordinance  was  promulgated,  granting  to 
agricultural  populations  an  exemption  from  one-fourth  of  the  tithes 
previously  imposed,  and  relieving  them  from  the  payment  of  taxes 
already  in  arrears.  It  was  further  provided  that  there  should  be  a 
representative  administrative  council,  composed  of  delegates  chosen  by 
the  communities ;  and  it  was  promised  that  their  reasonable  demands 
should  receive  respectful  attention,  the  information  obtained  from 
them  serving  as  a  basis  for  reform  measures.  It  was  announced,  in 
conclusion,  that  the  gradual  realization  of  these  reforms  had  been 
decided  upon. 

On  the  27th  of  October  General  Ignatiev  had  an  interview  with  the 
Grand  Vizier,  ]\Iahmud  Pasha,  in  the  course  of  which  he  remarked : 
"  The  Czar  regrets  that  the  insurrection  in  Herzegovina  has  not  yet 
come  to  an  end.  He  ascribes  this  delay  to  the  poor  actions  of  the  tri- 
bunal recently  appointed  in  Mostar,  as  well  as  to  the  low  degree  of 
security  enjoyed  by  the  insurgents  who  return  to  their  allegiance. 
These,  on  the  contrary,  are  subject  to  annoyances  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities.  Thus,  also,  the  delay  in  the  execution  of  the  promised 
reform  is  a  cause  of  the  continuance  of  the  insurrection.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  an  improvement  in  these  affairs  will  shortly  take  place ;  if 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR-  387 

not,  he  cannot  see  the  Christians  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  continually 
exposed  to  persecutions,  and  the  Powers  will  be  forced  to  intervene." 

While  negotiations  were  going  on,  the  fighting  continued  with  vary- 
ing success,  until  the  advance  of  winter  compelled  a  temporary  cessa- 
tion of  active  military  operations.  In  November  a  victory  was  gained 
by  the  Herzegovinians  at  Gatchko,  where  they  captured  thiee  hundred 
rifles,  fifty  tons  of  ammunition,  and  a  provision  train,  destined  for 
Govansko. 

On  the  12th  of  December  another  edict  was  issued  by  the  Sultan,  in 
"which  the  following  provisions  were  contained : 

"  The  lawsuits  between  Mohammedans  and  non-Mohammedans  will 
be  turned  over  to  the  civil  courts.  No  one  will  be  imprisoned  without 
a  trial.  Bad  treatment  of  prisoners  will  not  be  permitted.  The  rights 
of  possession  of  all  subjects  shall  be  secured,  the  gensdarme  shall  be 
selected  from  the  best  inhabitants  of  each  town,  and  socage  shall  be 
abolished.  All  religious  heads  shall  have  the  right  to  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religions,  and  all  public  offices  shall  be  opened  to  non-Moham- 
medan subjects.  Testamentary  provisions  shall  be  respected.  All  just 
complaints  and  wishes  shall  be  brought,  unhindered,  before  the  Porte. 
The  powers  of  the  governors  and  other  high  officials  are  to  be  cut  down. 
All  the  provisions  in  the  firman  are  for  the  benefit  of  loyal  subjects 
only.  The  Grand  Vizier  will  take  the  necessary  measures  to  bring 
these  reforms  into  execution,  while  a  special  commission  will  watch 
over  them." 

On  the  20th  of  December  the  Sultan  appointed  a  commission,  com- 
prising all  State  Ministers,  and  a  number  of  Mohammedans  and  Chris- 
tians, who  were  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  seeing  to  the  execution  of 
the  new  reform.  But  the  insurgent  leaders  in  Herzegovina  having 
consulted  with  representative  Christians  from  Bosnia,  resolved  not  to 
pay  any  regard  to  the  Sultan's  promises  of  reform,  but  to  continue  the 
conflict  until  the  Turks  should  be  driven  out. 

On  the  18th  of  January,  1876,  an  engagement  occurred  between  the 
insurgents  and  the  Turks  on  the  road  between  Eagusa  and  Trebinje, 
in  which  the  insurgents  claimed  that  they  had  defeated  the  Turks  and 
inflicted  a  severe  loss  upon  them.  The  road  between  Ragusa  and  Tre- 
binje fell  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents. 

On  the  11th  of  February  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  issued  a  decree  for 
the  execution  of  the  reforms  and  concessions  demanded  by  Austria  and 


388  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

the  other  European  Powers,  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  Christian 
people  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina ;  but  the  chief  leaders  of  the  Herze- 
govinian  insurgents,  Peko  Paulovitch  and  Lazar  Socica,  determined  to 
reject  these  concessions,  and  the  Austrian  Consul,  who  was  sent  to 
obtain  a  pacification,  failed  utterly  in  his  mission.  The  above  decree 
was  supplemented  by  another,  granting  general  amnesty  to  all  insur- 
gents who  within  four  weeks  should  return  to  their  homes ;  and  the 
Turkish  government  further  promised  to  rebuild,  at  its  own  cost,  all 
churches  and  houses  which  had  been  destroyed.  The  insurgents,  how- 
ever, refused  to  place  any  faith  in  these  offers,  and  a  meeting  of  a 
number  of  their  leaders  was  held  at  Suttorina,  February  26th.  A  mani- 
festo was  issued,  in  which  they  pointed  out  the  Porte's  former  failures 
to  carry  out  promised  reforms,  and  declared  that  the  resistance  of  the 
Mohammedans  would  baffle  every  reform ;  the  Mohammedans  were 
even  expected  to  revolt  if  an  attempt  were  made  to  execute  the  reforms. 
The  insurgents  desired  full  freedom  and  independence;  this,  or  nothing. 
This  paper  contained  an  expression  of  thanks  to  Austria  for  the  care 
she  had  taken  of  the  Herzegovinian  refugees,  and  closed  with  an  avowal 
that  help  was  expected  from  Russia. 

While  the  diplomatic  agents  were  trying  to  bring  about  a  peaceful 
understanding,  military  movements  were  generally  suspended,  and  only 
a  few  engagements  took  place.  The  most  important  of  these  occurred 
on  the  6th  of  March.  Five  battalions  of  Turks  under  the  command 
of  Selim  Pasha,  going  to  provision  the  fortress  of  Goransko,  were 
attacked  and  defeated  by  the  insurgents  under  Paulovitch,  with  the 
loss,  it  was  said,  of  800  roen  killed,  675  rifles  and  four  lifled  cannon. 
The  Turks  were  pursued  as  far  as  Lipnik,  four  hours'  march.  The 
insurgents  had  in  this  engagement  1,150  men,  and  claimed  to  have  lost 
only  ten  killed  and  twenty-five  wounded. 

Liubibraties,  who  had  figured  conspicuously  in  the  early  days  of  the 
insurrection,  had  withdrawn  to  Ragusa,  where  he  actively  agitated  the 
insurgent  cause  through  the  newspapers,  and  by  the  help  of  their  cor- 
respondents. He  collected  a  small  force  comprising  Prussians,  Serbs, 
and  adventurers  from  Poland,  France,  and  Italy,  and  having  embarked 
them  in  detachments  from  different  points,  landed,  towards  the  close  of 
February,  at  Klek.  Keeping  close  to  the  Austrian  border,  he  marched 
toward  Lin})uska.  On  the  5th  of  March  he  repulsed  a  company  of 
Bashi-Bazouks,  who  were  out  on  a  reconnoissauce.     On  the  11th  of 


EVENTS  PRE'CEDING    THE    WAR.  389 

March  he  reached  the  neighborhood  of  Imoschi,  in  Dalmatia,  where 
he  and  the  members  of  his  staff  were  arrested  upon  Austrian  territory. 
The  greater  part  of  his  command  were  dispersed,  but  eventually  joined 
other  bodies  of  insurgents. 

On  Friday,  April  28,  the  Turkish  troops  encountered  the  insurgents 
intercepting  the  road  to  Presjeka,  and  dispersed  them  after  four  hours' 
fighting.  The  convoys  of  provisions  were  victoriously  conveyed  into 
Niksics,  and  the  troops  afterwards  returned  to  Presjeka,  On  Saturday 
morning  they  were  attacked  by  the  insurgents,  who  had  received  rein- 
forcements. The  fighting  lasted  until  evening,  and  the  insurgents  were 
compelled  to  take  to  flight.  During  these  two  days  the  insurgents  lost 
between  three  and  four  hundred  killed  and  wounded.  On  Sunday 
morning,  having  ascertained  that  the  insurgents,  who  had  received  fur- 
ther reinforcements,  were  intrenched  in  the  forest  near  Presjeka,  on  the 
side  of  Piva,  in  order  to  cut  off  the  line  of  retreat,  the  Turkish  troops 
attacked  them,  and  after  sanguinary  fighting,  which  lasted  until  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening  without  intermission  the  insurgents  were  routed. 
The  victory  was  decisive,  and  the  losses  of  the  insurgents  were  consider- 
able, being  estimated  at  about  one  thousand  killed  and  wounded.  The 
Turks,  moreover,  captured  a  large  Cjuantity  of  arms,  and  returned  to 
Gatchko  without  further  fighting. 

On  Saturday,  May  6,  a  Mussulman  mob,  armed  with  clubs  and 
knives,  attacked  and  murdered  the  German  and  French  Consuls,  Mr. 
Henry  Abbott  and  his  brother-in-law,  M.  Paul  Moulin,  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  a  mosque.  They  had  joined  the  American  Consul  in  assum- 
ing the  custody  of  a  young  Christian  girl,  who  had  been  removed  from 
her  home  for  conversion  to  the  jNIohammedan  religion.  The  German 
Consul  was  a  British  subject,  born  at  Salonica,  and  married  to  a  Greek 
lady ;  he  was  also  connected  by  marriage  with  the  American  Consul, 
Hadji  Lazaro.  The  Turkish  government  at  once  promised  full  inquiry 
and  satisfaction  in  the  punishment  of  the  murderers.  Six  of  them  were 
condemned  and  publicly  executed ;  fifty  more  were  arrested  for  taking 
part  in  the  riot.  This  outrage  aroused  an  intense  excitement  through- 
out the  Christian  world,  and  a  joint  foreign  commission  of  inquiry  pro- 
ceeded to  the  spot.  France,  Germany,  Austria,  and  Italy  sent  vessels 
of  war  to  Salonica,  and  England  despatched  a  gun-boat  to  accompany 
the  commission  which  the  Turkish  government  sent  to  investigate  the 
affair. 


390 

HP 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 


isc'if  iii,iiiL<".f/fl'''w;-i 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR.  391 

In  the  last  days  of  May  an  abrupt  end  was  put  to  the  reign  of  Abdul 
Aziz  by  his  subjects.  The  deposition  of  Abdul  Aziz  was  not  brought 
about  by  a  popular  revolution,  but  by  the  action  of  the  Ministers, 
pushed  to  extremity  by  the  absolute  refusal  of  the  Sultan  to  advance 
money  from  his  privy  i:)urse  for  the  exhausted  war  treasury.  Upon 
his  refusing  to  alter  his  decision,  he  was  informed  that  the  people  were 
dissatisfied  with  his  government,  and  that  he  was  deposed.  Immediately 
afterwards  he  was  conducted  under  guard  to  the  Tophana  Palace,  where 
he  bled  to  death  from  wounds  inflicted  by  himself  in  both  arms. 

The  Turkish  popular  movement  which  caused  this  revolution  seems 
to  have  originated  in  the  excitement  which  followed  upon  the  Salouica 
massacre.  For  a  long  time  the  Softas,  or  Mussulman  students  of 
theology  and  law,  who  constitute  the  "  Young  Turkey"  party,  had 
been  agitating  for  internal  reforms  and  more  energetic  action  con- 
cerning the  insurrection  in  the  Herzegovina.  They  objected  to  the 
acceptance  of  the  Andrassy  Note,  as  they  regarded  Montenegro  as  the 
cause  of  much  of  Turkey's  trouble,  and  they  advocated  a  decisive 
course  of  action  against  that  Principality.  The  consternation  into 
which  all  classes  in  Constantinople  were  thrown  by  the  news  of  the 
Salonica  outrage  gave  them  at  length  the  opportunity  for  which  they 
had  been  waiting.  On  May  7th  a  crowd  of  them,  headed  by  their 
professors  and  clergy,  gathered  in  the  streets.  So  menacing  was  their 
behavior  that  Dervish  Pasha  ordered  the  Sultan's  guards  and  the 
troops  in  the  city  to  be  kept  in  their  respective  barracks  ready  for  any 
emergency.  The  ironclads  which  were  at  that  time  in  the  Bosphorus 
were  ordered  to  draw  up  in  front  of  the  palace  and  to  point  their 
loaded  cannon  against  Beschichtach,  Orta  Keni,  and  Arnaout  Keni, 
which  were  the  suburbs  from  which  any  attack  of  the  Softas  might 
be  expected.  Next  day,  however.  Dervish  Pasha  was  turned  out  of  his 
office  as  Minister  of  War  and  was  sent  away  to  the  Governorship  of 
Diarbeker.  The  Softas,  whose  organization  included  20,000  active  men 
in  the  Turkish  capital,  were  left  to  agitate  against  Mahmoud  Pasha, 
then  Grand  Vizier.  Day  by  day  their  demands  grew  louder  and 
more  persistent.  They  declared  that  Midhat  Pasha  should  be  Grand 
Vizier,  and  that  politician  was  actually  summoned  to  the  palace. 
But  his  demands  or  conditions  were  so  extensive  that  eventually  he 
was  dismissed,  and  a  kind  of  compromise  was  oifered  by  the  ejection 
of  Mahmoud  Pasha,  and  the  appointment  of  Mahmoud  Ruchdi  in  his 


392  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

place.  Meanwhile  Hussein  Avni  was  appointed  Minister  of  War,  and 
Abdul  Kerim  Nadar  Pasha  Avas  appointed  generalissimo  of  the  army. 

The  personal  demeanor  of  Abdul  Aziz  showed  that  he  was  very 
uneasy.  He  changed  his  residence  from  palace  to  palace  in  a  singularly 
unnecessary  manner,  testifying  to  the  restlessness  of  his  mind.  The 
incessant  deliberations  and  demonstrations  of  the  Softas  were  not 
calculated  to  dispel  his  anxiety.  The  plot  was  then  under  considera- 
tion which  soon  afterwards  ripened  into  his  deposition.  Midhat  Pasha, 
emboldened  by  their  action,  refused  to  be  sent  away,  and  was  even- 
tually offered  a  seat  in  the  new  Cabinet  without  a  portfolio,  an 
appointment  which  he  accepted.  The  outcry  for  a  surrender  of  some 
of  the  money  hoarded  in  the  palace  increased  in  strength.  To  all 
but  the  Sultan  it  was  evident  that  the  Softas  Avere  gaining  daily  in 
strength;  that,  so  far  from  being  a  party  of  disorder,  they  were 
emphatically  the  champions  of  a  more  constitutional  Government. 

Affairs  being  in  such  a  critical  state,  Mahmoud  Ruchdi,  the  Grand 
Viziei',  Hussein  Avni,  the  ]\Iinister  of  War,  and  Ahmed,  the  Minister 
of  Marine,  had  a  long  interview  Avith  the  Sultan,  and  urged  him  to 
accede  to  the  demands  of  the  Softas.  He  refused  to  do  so.  They 
then  concerted  their  measures.  In  the  evening  the  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  visited  the  Ambassadors  at  Buyukdere,  having  re- 
ceived them  in  the  morning  at  five  o'clock.  The  captains  of  the  fleets 
were  changed  at  night.  The  palace  of  Abdul  Aziz  at  Dolma  Baghtche 
was  surrounded  by  troops  on  one  side  and  by  sailors  on  the  other. 
Hussein  Avni  Pasha  proceeded  thither,  taking  Mourad  Effendi  with 
him  to  the  Seraskicrat,  where  Mourad  was  received  by  the  Ministers 
and  by  deputations  from  the  Softas  and  Ulema.  He  was  received 
with  acclamations  by  those  assembled,  and  was  recognized  as  the  new 
Sultan.  Thereupon  General  Redif  Pasha  Avcnt  to  the  Sultan  Abdul 
Aziz  and  announced  to  him  that  he  had  been  deposed,  and  that 
Mourad  Effendi  hud  given  orders  to  conduct  him  to  the  pavilion  at 
the  end  of  the  Seraglio.  Abdul  Aziz  was  in  great  wrath  when  the 
news  was  communicated  to  him,  but,  seeing  that  the  palace  Avas  sur- 
rounded and  that  resistance  Avas  useless,  he  allowed  himself  to  be 
conducted  with  his  four  sons  and  a  hundred  Avives  to  the  kiosk  selected 
for  him. 

On  Tuesday  morning  there  was  a  great  stir  in  the  streets.  The 
four  guilds — namely,  the  firemen,  the  draAvers  of  water,  the  carriers, 


EVEA^TS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR.  393 

and  the  boatmen — led  by  groups  of  Softas,  who  were  headed  by  their 
professors,  formed  a  procession.  They  marched  to  the  Sultan's  palace 
at  Dolma  Baktche  without  being  interfered  with  by  the  military,  to 
whom  no  orders  seemed  to  have  been  given  to  act  in  case  of  such  a 
demonstration.  During  the  progress  of  the  procession  the  crowd 
increased  by  many  thousands.  The  Sultan's  palace  was  guarded  by 
mounted  police,  who  did  not  interfere  with  the  crowd,  though  cries  of 
"Down  with  Abdul  Aziz!"  and  "Long  live  Mourad  Effendi!"  came 
from  it.  In  the  meantime,  by  orders  of  the  Grand  Vizier  and  Sheikh- 
ul-Islara,  Mourad  Eifendi  was  proclaimed  Sultan,  and  a  salute  was 
fired  of  one  hundred  and  one  guns  from  each  ship.  At  ten  Mourad 
Effendi  girded  on  the  sword  of  Osmau  at  the  Mosque  of  Eyoub.  An 
edict  was  issued,  which  commences  thus:  "We,  Abdul  Aziz,  in  pursu- 
ance of  the  wish  of  the  great  majority  of  our  subjects,  abdicate  in 
favor  of  our  nephew,  Mehemed  Mourad  Effendi." 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  June,  while  the  Ministers  of  State 
forming  the  new  Sultan's  Government  were  sitting  together  in  the 
Council  Chamber,  a  person  named  Hassan,  who  had  been  an  officer  in 
the  army,  forced  his  entrance  into  the  room  and  killed  Hussein  Avna 
Pasha,  the  Minister  of  War,  with  a  shot  from  a  revolver.  The  others 
attempting  to  seize  him,  he  shot  dead  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs, 
Mohammed  Raschid  Pasha,  and  two  of  the  attendant  officers.  The 
Minister  of  Marine,  Ruschid  Pasha,  was  wounded.  In  the  affray 
which  followed,  a  member  of  the  household  of  Midhat  Pasha,  who 
attempted  to  arrest  the  murderer,  was  also  killed.  Finally  a  detach- 
ment of  soldiers  came  in  and  captured  the  murderer.  He  was  sum- 
marily tried,  and  was  hanged  on  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  June. 

The  war  had  gone  on  for  nearly  a  year  in  Herzegovina,  when  an 
attempt  at  a  rising  took  place  in  Bulgaria  also.  With  regard  to  this 
insui'rection  the  Turkish  government  seems  to  have  been  in  a  position 
somewhat  analogous  to  that  which  the  Austrian  government  once  held 
with  regard  to  the  revolutionary  movements  in  Italy.  All  through 
the  winter  there  were  numerous  suspicious  symptoms,  which  all  in- 
dicated that  something  was  preparing ;  but  all  efforts  made  to  get  hold 
of  something  more  positive  were  in  vain.  The  information  came  in 
many  cases  from  the  Bulgarians  themselves,  the  wealthy  portion  of 
whom,  above  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  secured  from  the 
beginning  more  news  about  an  outbreak  than  the  Turks  themselves 


394  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

could.  Mucli  of  this  informatiou  proved  either  quite  unfounded  or 
else  so  exaggerated  that  it  produced  almost  the  opposite  effect,  lulling 
the  authorities  into  a  false  sense  of  security.  Far  from  taking  any- 
extraordinary  measures  to  meet  the  eventuality  of  a  rising  in  Bulgaria, 
they  neglected  almost  the  most  ordinary  precautions.  Almost  the 
whole  corps  de  armee  of  Roumelia,  which  is  stationed  as  a  rule  in 
Bulgaria,  was  again  concentrated  in  spring  at  Nisli  and  Widdin,  with 
the  object  of  keeping  order  at  the  great  fair  which  is  held  in  April  at 
Djuma,  not  far  from  Shumia.  A  battalion  of  Chasseurs  had  to  be 
sent  from  the  camp  at  Widdin.  Besides  the  Zaptiehs,  or  gendarmes, 
only  small  detachments  Avere  left  in  the  towns,  so  that,  at  the  first 
moment,  there  was  scarcely  any  force  at  hand  to  send  to  the  disturbed 
district. 

It  was  on  the  1st  of  May  that  the  first  news  of  the  rising  reached 
Sofia.  It  was  a  report  from  the  Kaimakam  of  Ichtiman,  a  town 
situated  between  Tatar  Bazardjik  and  Sofia,  in  the  mountain  range 
connecting  the  Balkan  with  the  Rhodope  chain,  according  to  which  a 
collision  had  occurred  between  the  population  and  the  Zaptiehs  Avho 
had  been  sent  to  collect  the  taxes.  The  villages  of  Otlikein,  Arret- 
al-An,  and  Islady,  all  situated  in  the  mountain  district  between  Tatar 
Bazardjik  and  Sofia,  were  specified  as  the  focus  of  the  insurrection. 
A  Mudir,  a  sub-Prefect,  and  several  Zaptiehs  had  been  killed,  two 
railway  bridges  and'  the  telegraph  line  between  Tatar  Bazardjik  and 
Ichtiman  had,  it  was  said,  been  destroyed.  Immediately  after  the 
collision  the  insurgents,  who  collected  from  various  points  as  if  by 
order,  retired  to  different  strong  positions  in  the  mountains,  where 
provisions  had  been  collected  beforehand. 

The  insurgents  were  mostly  armed  with  Minie  rifles  and  others  of 
older  construction,  and  seem  to  have  been  provided  with  ammunition. 
As  regards  the  arms,  in  the  beginning  of  spring  the  authorities  received 
information  that  a  cargo  of  them  was  preparing  to  be  sent  across  from 
the  Roumanian  side  on  a  certain  point.  The  hint  was  taken,  and,  in 
fact,  a  small  portion  of  arms  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks ;  but, 
while  the  attention  of  the  Turks  was  concentrated  on  this  special  ])oint, 
several  thousand  stands  of  arms  and  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition 
were  sent  over  to  various  other  places. 

On  the  same  night  that  the  first  news  of  the  rising  reached  Sofia  a 
battalion  of  redifis  quartered  there  was  sent  off  to  Ichtinjan.     At  the 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 


395 


Map  of  the  Turkish  States. 


396  EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR. 

same  time  reinforcements  were  tclcgrapliecl  for  in  every  direction ;,  but 
the  Turkish  government  was  at  this  time  in  extremities.  Its  army- 
was  fully  occupied  in  Herzegovina  as  well  as  along  the  Servian 
frontier,  and  it  had  to  strip  the  capital  of  troops  in  order  to  hold 
Philippopolis  and  Adrianople.  To  prevent  the  spread  of  the  rebellion 
recourse  was  had  to  the  special  measure  of  arming  the  Mussulman 
population  and  the  Circassian  refugees.  These  were  turned  loose  upon 
Bulgaria  with  the  result  of  crushing  out  every  sign  of  rebellion  in 
about  three  weeks'  time.  The  Bashi-Bazouks — as  the  armed  Moslem 
population  were  called — seemed  to  make  it  a  rule  to  shoot  every 
Christian  on  sight,  and  the  fields  were  absolutely  deserted  in  cm- 
sequence.  The  savages  burned  all  the  rebel  villages,  of  course.  Loyal 
villagers,  hearing  of  their  doings,  would  huddle  together  in  some 
corner  for  safety.  Immediately  a  squad  of  Bashi-Bazouks  would 
pounce  upon  them,  taking  or  pretending  to  take  their  assembling  as  a 
sign  of  evil  intent,  and  then  another  band  of  frightened  women  and 
children  would  be  added  to  the  crowds  flocking  to  the  cities  for  shelter, 
while  another  village  would  be  added  to  the  list  of  those  destroyed. 
After  two  hundred  or  more  villages  had  been  burned  down,  and  after 
thousands  of  men  had  been  killed  and  other  thousands  arrested  for 
complicity  in  the  rebellion,  the  Bulgarian  rising  became  a  thing  of  the 
past.  But  still  the  Bashi-Bazouks  and  Circassians  continued  their 
work,  and  there  was  no  safety  except  in  the  cities  whei-e  there  were 
regular  troojDS.  The  regular  troops,  although  quiet  and  well-behaved 
in  comparison  with  the  Bashi-Bazouks,  were  not  free  from  crime. 
They  seized  goods  in  shops,  plundered  the  markets,  and  barbarously 
outraged  defenceless  women  and  young  girls. 

The  government  gave  no  heed  to  complaints,  and  although  the 
rebellion  was  crushed,  the  couctry  was  ruined.  Just  at  this  stage  of 
affairs  occurred  the  revolution.  The  new  Sultan  within  three  days 
after  his  accession  ordered  the  repression  of  the  Bashi-Bazouks.  But 
the  Bashi-Bazouks  declined  to  be  repressed,  and  for  three  weeks  more 
outrages  oontiiuiod  to  occur  spasmodically.  Wherever  the  troops  were 
not,  Bashi-Bazouks  Avcre  sure  to  appear.  They  had  now  become 
robbers,  pure  and  simple,  if  they  were  ever  anything  else.  The  answer 
of  one  of  them  to  an  order  to  surrender  stolen  property  to  its  lawful 
owner,  illustrates  their  position :  "  My  king  ordered  me  to  take  this 
property ;  it  is  mine  lawfully.  The  new  king  cannot  take  away  from 
me  what  I  have  lawfully  acquired." 


EVENTS  PRECEDING    THE    WAR.  397 

Credible  witnesses,  who  visited  the  insurrectionary  district  early  in 
August,  describe  the  most  heart-rending  scenes.  In  the  town  of 
Batok  were  found  great  numbers  of  skulls  scattered  about,  and  one 
ghastly  heap  of  skeletons  with  clothing.  In  one  place  there  were 
counted  a  hundred  skulls,  picked  and  licked  clean,  all  of  women  and 
children.  Entering  the  town,  on  every  side  were  skulls  and  skeletons 
charred  among  the  ruins,  or  lying  entix'e  where  they  fell  in  their  clothing. 
There  were  skeletons  of  girls  and  women  with  long  brown  hair  hanging 
to  the  skulls.  !Near  the  church  these  remains  were  more  numerous, 
and  the  ground  was  literally  covered  with  skeletons,  skulls,  and 
putrefying  bodies.  Between  the  church  and  the  school  there  were 
heaps  of  bodies,  emitting  a  fearful  stench.  In  the  churchyard  the 
sight  was  even  more  dreadful.  For  three  feet  deep  it  was  festering 
with  dead  bodies;  partly  covered  hands,  legs,  arms,  and  heads  pro- 
jected in  ghastly  confusion.  There  were  many  little  hands,  heads, 
and  feet  of  children  of  three  years  of  age,  and  girls  with  heads  covered 
with  beautiful  hair.  The  church  was  still  worse.  The  floor  was 
covered  with  rotting  bodies  quite  uncovered.  lu  the  school,  a  fine 
building,  two  hundred  women  had  been  burnt  alive.  All  over  the 
town  there  were  the  same  scenes.  In  some  places  heajDS  of  bodies 
l)uried  in  shallow  holes  had  been  uncovered  by  dogs,  and  the  banks 
of  the  little  stream  were  covered  with  bodies. 

Many  bodies  had  been  carried  to  Tatar  Bazardjik,  a  distance  of 
thirty  miles.  The  town  had  nine  thousand  inhabitants,  but  was 
reduced  to  a  population  of  twelve  hundred.  Many  who  had  escaped 
returned,  weeping  and  moaning  over  their  ruined  homes,  and  their 
sorrowful  wailing  could  be  heard  at  a  distance  of  half  a  mile.  On  the 
11th  of  May  Panagurishta  was  attacked  by  a  force  of  regular  troops, 
together  with  Bashi-Bazouks.  Apparently  no  message  to  surrender 
was  sent,  and  after  a  slight  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  insurgents 
the  town  was  taken.  Many  of  the  inhabitants  fled,  but  about  three 
thousand  were  massacred,  the  most  of  them  being  women  and  children. 
Of  these  about  four  hundred  belonged  to  the  town  of  Panagurishta, 
and  the  othei's  to  nine  neighboring  villages,  the  inhabitants  of  which 
had  taken  refuge  there.  Four  hundred  buildings,  including  the 
bazaar  and  the  largest  and  best  houses,  were  burned.  B(jth  churches 
were  completely  destroyed  and  levelled  to  the  ground.  In  one,  an  old 
man  was  violated  in  the  altar  and  afterwards  burned  alive.     Two  of 


398  EVENTS  PRECEDING   THE    WAR. 

the  schools  were  burned;  the  third,  looking  like  a  private  house, 
escaped.  Hardly  a  woman  in  the  town  escaped  violation  and  brutal 
treatment.  The  ruffians  attacked  children  of  eight  years,  and  old 
women  of  eighty,  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex.  Old  men  had  their 
eyes  torn  out  and  their  limbs  cut  off,  and  were  then  left  to  die,  unless 
some  more  charitably  disposed  man  gave  them  the  final  thrust. 

This  scene  of  rapine,  lust,  and  murder,  was  continued  for  three 
days,  when  the  survivors  were  made  to  bury  the  bodies  of  the  dead. 
The  perpetrators  of  these  outrages  were  chiefly  regular  troops,  com- 
manded by  Hafiz  Pasha. 

At  first  the  friends  of  Turkey  were  disposed  to  make  light  of  these 
outrages ;  but  after  impartial  investigations  made  by  INIr.  Baring,  of 
the  British  legation,  and  ]Mr.  Eugene  Schuyler,  the  American  Consul- 
General,  all  doubt  upon  the  subject  was  removed,  and  there  was 
a  general  recognition  of  the  fact  that  horrible  atrocities  had  been 
committed. 

Commenting  on  these  disclosures,  Mr.  Gladstone  said,  in  the  latter 
part  of  September :  "  There  is  not  a  criminal  in  an  European  jail, 
there  is  not  a  cannibal  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  whose  indignation 
would  not  rise  and  overboil  at  the  recital  of  that  which  has  been  done, 
which  has  too  late  been  examined,  but  which  remains  unavenged; 
which  has  left  behind  all  the  foul  and  all  the  fierce  passions  that 
produced  it,  and  which  may  again  spring  up,  in  another  murderous 
harvest,  from  the  soil  soaked  and  reeking  with  blood,  and  in  the  air 
tainted  with  every  imaginable  deed  of  crime  and  shame.  That  such 
things  should  be  done  once  is  a  damning  disgrace  to  the  portion  of  our 
race  which  did  them ;  that  a  door  should  be  left  open  for  their  ever-so- 
barely  possible  repetition  would  spread  that  shame  over  the  whole." 

Mr.  Gladstone  summed  up  the  demands  of  British  sentiment,  con- 
curred in  by  all  civilized  human  beings,  in  the  following  two  points: 

"1.  To  put  a  stop  to  the  anarchial  misrule  (let  the  phrase  be 
excused),  the  plundering,  the  murdering,  which,  as  we  now  seem  to 
learn  upon  sufficient  evidence,  still  desolate  Bulgaria. 

"  2.  To  make  effectual  provision  against  the  recurrence  of  the  out- 
rages recently  perpetrated  under  the  sanction  of  the  Ottoman  Govern- 
ment, by  excluding  its  administrative  action  for  the  future,  not  only 
from  Bosnia  and  the  Herzegovina,  but  also,  and  above  all,  from 
Bulgaria;  upon  which,  at  best,  there  will  remain,  for  years  and  for 
generations,  the  traces  of  its  foul  and  bloody  hand." 


THE  WAR  IN  SERVIA  AND  MONTENEGRO.  399 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  WAR  IN  SERAT:A  AND  MONTENEGRO. 

At  the  beginning  of  1876  the  ministry  of  Kalievitch  was  at  the 
head  of  the  Servian  government,  and  was  strongly  in  favor  of  peace, 
being  opposed  by  the  Skouptchina  or  ]SI"ational  Legislature,  On 
January  22d  the  latter  body  unanimously  adopted  the  war  estimates, 
and  three  days  after  the  Minister  of  War  asked  an  additional  grant 
for  army  equipment.  On  the  20th  of  February  all  the  male  popula- 
tion between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  and  fifty  were  called  out.  During 
the  latter  part  of  February  disturbances  occurred  at  the  Communal 
elections,  and  a  strong  war  feeling  prevailed,  which,  however,  tem- 
porarily subsided  upon  peaceful  assurances  being  made  by  Prince 
Milan  to  the  Austrian  representative  at  Belgrade.  During  the  next 
month  the  war  party  brought  heavy  pressure  upon  Prince  Milan,  and 
about  the  same  time  the  capital  was  illuminated  in  honor  of  the  battle 
of  Muratovizza  in  Herzegovina.  The  Turkish  soldiers  gathered  along 
the  frontier  of  Servia  committed  depredations  upon  the  persons  and 
property  of  the  people,  and  the  Servian  militia  was  ordered  out  against 
them. 

In  April  the  Austrian  representative.  Prince  Wrede,  addressed  a 
note  to  Prince  Milan,  threatening  that  Turkish  and  Austrian  troops 
would  occupy  Servia  in  case  the  latter  declared  war  against  Turkey ; 
but  the  ministers  unanimously  advised  him  to  give  no  heed  to  it. 
With  the  renewal  of  hostilities  in  the  insurgent  provinces  the  war 
feeling  increased,  and  the  public  mind  became  inflamed  by  reports  of 
the  Bulgarian  atrocities  and  the  murder  of  the  consuls  in  Salonica. 
At  last  Prince  Milan  was  compelled  to  yield  to  the  popular  clamor, 
and  a  new  cabinet  was  formed,  decidedly  warlike  in  character,  with 
Ristiteh-Gruitch  at  its  head.  Important  steps  were  now  taken  to 
prepare  the  country  for  war.  On  the  24th  of  May  provision  was 
made  for  the  issue  of  a  loan  of  twelve  million  francs,  payable  within 
five  years.  On  the  29th  the  Russian  General  TchernayefT  was  ap- 
pointed to  a  command  in  the  Servian  army,  and  troops  were  soon 
after  dispatched  to  guard  the  frontier.     Meanwhile  negotiations  were 


400 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND  MONTENEGRO, 


Woman  of  Mostar. 


entered  into  with  Montenegro,  and  a  treaty  oiFensive  and  defensive 
concluded  between  the  two  states. 

On  the  23d  of  June  the  Servian  troops  were  placed  under  arms,  and 
on  the  29th  a  Servian  representative  at  Constantinople  delivered  a 
memorandum  to  the  Sublime  Porte  containing  the  demands  of  Servia 
and  Montenegro,  which  were  rejected  by  the  Porte,  as  had  been 
anticipated.  A  simultaneous  declaration  of  war  by  Servia  and  Mon- 
tenegro was  immediately  pu])lished,  July  2d,  followed  ])y  their  actual 
invasion  of  the  neighboring  Turkish  provinces,  Bosnia  and  Herze- 
govina. 


THE    WAR  IN  SEE  VIA  AND  MONTENEGRO.  401 

Prince  INIilan's  war  manifesto  described  the  insupportable  position 
in  which  Servia  had  been  placed  by  the  outbreak  of  insurrection  in 
the  Herzegovina  and  Bosnia ;  and  stated  that  while  Servia  had  taken 
no  steps  that  could  have  impeded  the  work  of  pacification,  Turkey,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  surrounded  her  with  a  belt  of  iron. 

The  Prince  of  Montenegro,  on  the  same  day,  replied  to  the  letter 
addressed  to  him  by  the  Grand  Vizier  a  week  previously,  by  sending 
his  declaration  of  war.  He  said  that  he  could  not  accept  the  assurances 
of  the  Porte,  which  had  been  deceived  by  mendacious  reports  from  its 
agents ;  that  a  blockade  of  Montenegro  was  actually  existing,  and  that 
the  Turkish  troops  on  the  Montenegrin  frontier  had  lately  been  in- 
creased. With  considerable  difficulty  the  Prince,  following  the  advice 
tendered  by  the  Powers,  had  abstained  from  taking  part  in  the  insurrec- 
tion, and  supported  the  work  of  pacification.  But  his  people  now  saw 
that  the  Porte  was  not  able  to  put  an  end  to  the  struggle ;  and  he 
himself  approved  of  this  opinion,  and  preferred  openly  to  declare  war 
against  Turkey. 

On  the  same  day  that  war  was  declared.  Prince  Milan  took  his 
departure  for  the  army.  The  Servian  troops  retained  at  Belgrade  in 
the  capacity  of  garrison  or  reserve  were-  drawn  up  before  the  palace. 
The  Prince  appeared  on  horseback,  accompanied  by  his  whole  staff, 
fully  equipped  and  of  very  warlike  ai:)pearance.  The  whole  population 
seems  to  have  turned  out  to  witness  his  passage.  The  Prince  placed 
himself  in  the  centre  of  his  troops,  which  formed  a  square  around  him, 
and,  drawing  his  sword,  exclaimed,  "  Soldiers  and  people  of  Servia,  I 
leave  this  capital  to  join  the  valiant  army  awaiting  me  at  the  frontier, 
and  which  will  aid  me  to  fight  victoriously  the  traditional  enemy  of 
my  country  and  my  religion.  People  and  soldiers  of  Servia,  adieu 
till  after  victor)^ !" 

The  Servian  army  was  divided  as  follows:  1.  The  army  of  the 
Drina,  composed  of  the  first  and  second  bans  of  the  first  division,  and 
numerous  volunteer  corps,  principally  composed  of  Bosnians.  It  num- 
bered about  twenty  thousand  men,  infantry  and  cavalry,  and  was 
under  the  command  of  General  Alimpitch.  2.  The  array  of  the  Ibar, 
composed  of  the  first  and  second  bans  of  the  division  "Western  Morava, 
and  volunteers  from  Southwestern  Bosnia,  under  the  Archimandrite 
Dutchitch ;  this  army  also  contained  about  twenty  thousand  men.  3. 
The  principal  army,  the  army  of  the  South,  was  placed  under  the 
26 


402  THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA  AND  MONTENEGRO. 

command  of  General  Tchernayeff.  It  was  composed  of  the  first  and 
second  bans  of  the  division  Southern  Morava,  and  of  the  first  ban  of 
the  divisions  Danube  and  Shumadiya,  and  had  in  all  about  forty-five 
thousand  men.  4.  The  army  of  the  Timok  was  under  the  command 
of  General  Lieshanin,  and  consisted  of  the  first  and  second  bans  of  the 
fourth  division,  and  several  volunteer  bodies,  in  all  about  twenty 
thousand  men.  This  left  available  the  second  ban  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth  divisions  (Danube  and  Shumadiya)  and  the  entire  reserve. 

For  the  better  understanding  of  the  movements  of  these  various 
divisions,  we  give  the  following  topographical  details.  In  two  places 
the  mountains  of  Turkey  and  its  adjacent  provinces  are  in  connection 
with  those  of  middle  Europe.  The  mountains  in  Dalmatia,  Bosnia, 
West  Servia  to  the  Morava,  the  Herzegovina,  Montenegro,  and  North 
Albania  (that  is,  Scutari)  are  a  continuation  of  the  Alps,  and  run 
parallel  to  the  Adriatic,  or  from  northwest  to  southeast.  A  continua- 
tion of  the  Transylvanian  Carpathians  stretches,  in  the  form  of  a  horse- 
shoe, from  the  Servo-Turkish  frontier  opposite  the  Austrian  town  of 
Orsova,  on  the  Danube,  to  the  Black  Sea.  The  mountains  in  East 
Servia,  from  the  frontier  river  Timok  to  the  Morava,  are  spurs  of  the 
Balkan.  On  the  summit  of  the  Ivanova  Livada  (Ivan's  Meadow), 
where  Servia  and  the  pashaliks  of  Widdin  and  Nissa  meet,  stands  a 
Servian  karaula  (watch-house),  and  there  the  Balkan  proper  b?gins. 
That  part  of  the  mountains  at  the  foot  of  which  the  river  Timok  ilows, 
to  the  valley  of  the  Nissava,  was  first  explored,  a  few  years  ago,  by  the 
Austrian  geographer,  Kanitz.  It  has  no  collective  name  among  the 
inhabitants,  and  was  named  by  him  "  Sveti  Nicola  Bul!:an,"  as  the 
most  important  pass  there  is  the  "  Sveti  Nicola  Pass,"  four  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The  word 
"Balkan"  is  Turkish,  and  signifies  mountains;  there  are,  therefore,  a 
number  of  Balkans,  named  after  the  neighboring  Bulgarian  towns, 
and  sometimes  also  narrow  passes. 

The  two  groups  of  mountains,  the  "Western  and  the  Balkans,  are 
separated  by  the  broad  valley  of  the  JMorava,  which  flows  into  the 
the  Danube  in  two  arms  at  Scmendria  and  Pozarevac  (below  Belgrade), 
and  is  formed  by  the  Servian  and  Bulgarian  Morava  uniting  at  the 
little  Servian  town  of  Stalatz.  By  following  the  larger  arm — namely, 
the  Bulgarian  ^lorava  stream — upwards,  wc  come  to  a  defile,  and  pass- 
ing Alexiuitza,  a  Servian  frontier  town,  we  reach  the  plain  of  Nish,  or 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND  MONTENEGRO.  403 

Nissa,  evidently  the  basin  of  a  lake  in  remote  ages.  This  plain  forma 
a  triangle,  the  point  of  which  lies  near  the  Servian  frontier,  where  the 
Kissava  flows  into  the  Bulgarian  Morava.  Passing  through  the  valley 
of  the  iSTissava,  which  forms  the  eastern  side  of  the  triangle,  the  beauti- 
ful hollow  of  Sophia,  "  the  picture  of  Paradise,"  as  a  Turkish  historian 
calls  it,  is  reached  by  the  old  Roman  road  from  Belgrade  to  Constanti- 
nople, and  through  the  valley  of  the  Bulgarian  Morava,  we  arrive  at 
the  Kassovo  Polje  (Ousel  field)  and  the  old  road  to  Thessalonica  (Sa- 
lonica).  The  valley  of  the  Ibar,  which  river  flows  through  the  pasha- 
lik  of  Novibazar  (between  Montenegro  and  Servia)  and  empties  itself 
into  the  Servian  Morava  at  Karanovatz,  also  leads  to  the  Kassovo 
Polje.  In  the  triangle  between  the  three  rivers  are  three  moderately 
high  and  not  yet  fully  explored  chains  of  mountains,  and  by  these  the 
rivers  are  often  forced  into  narrow  gorges. 

On  the  south  side  of  the  Kassova  Polje  and  the  plain  of  Sophia  a 
bridge,  so  to  speak,  between  the  Bosno-Albanian  mountains  and  the 
Balkan  is  formed,  first,  by  the  Tchar  Dagh  mountains  running  from 
west  to  east,  then  by  the  Ryl  mountain,  an  immense  block,  and  the 
Vitos,  a  pyramid  almost  seven  thousand  feet  high.  Both  from  Ryl 
(Turkish  Rilo  Dagh)  and  Vitos,  chains  of  mountains  extend  west, 
south,  and  east.  The  chain  in  the  south  forms  the  connection  with  the 
Ichtiman  jNIiddle  mountains,  and  thereby  with  the  Balkan.  The  road 
from  Constantinople  to  Sophia,  Nissa,  and  Belgrade  leads  through  two 
passes  in  the  Ichtiman  range.  Between  Mount  Ryl  and  the  Tchar 
Dagh  mountains  there  is  a  deep  depression,  which  makes  it  easy  to 
pass  from  the  valley  of  the  Bulgarian  ]\Iorava  into  that  of  the  Vardar, 
and  therefore  forms  the  road  from  Belgrade  to  Salonica.  The  valley 
of  the  Kissava,  which  is  the  road  to  Constantinople,  and  the  valley  of 
the  Bulgarian  Morava,  which  is  the  highway  to  Salonica,  are  the  only 
roads  by  which  armies  could  be  marched. 

The  Ser^•ian  and  Montenegrin  troops  crossed  the  frontier,  a  complete 
agreement  respecting  the  military  operations  being  established  between 
the  two  Principalities.  The  Servian  army,  on  Sunday  morning,  July 
2d,  crossed  near  Suppowiza,  in  the  direction  of  the  Morava.  The 
forces  under  General  Milutin  Jovanovics  occupied  Seczenitza  and 
Dadulaicz,  and  repelled  an  attack  of  the  Turkish  army.  General 
Paul  Gorgewicz  occupied  the  heights  of  Jopolniza.  On  Monday 
General  Tchernayefi'a  forces  attacked  the  Turkish   camp  at  Babina- 


404  THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND  MONTENEGRO, 

glava,  and,  after  three  hours'  fighting,  the  Turks  were  forced  to 
retreat,  leaving  behind  them  several  batteries  and  a  quantity  of 
provisions.  Early  on  Monday  morning  the  Servian  troops  under 
Ranko  Olimpies  crossed  the  Drina  and  pushed  forward  as  far  as 
Bellina,  where  they  opened  a  vigorous  cannonade.  The  fire  was  kept 
up  until  five  o'clock,  when  the  Servians  proceeded  to  storm  the  town. 
The  right  wing  succeeded  in  entering  the  fortifications,  and,  without 
making  any  provisions  for  holding  the  captured  posts,  pursued  the 
retreating  Turks  into  the  streets  of  the  city.  Here  the  Servians 
were  received  by  a  well-directed  fire  from  the  houses ;  disorder  began 
in  their  ranks,  and  they  in  turn  were  driven  out.  The  disorder  com- 
municated itself  to  the  centre,  and  Olimpies  was  forced  to  retreat.  He 
succeeded  in  restoring  order,  however,  and  retained  a  firm  footing  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Drina.  Here  he  began  to  fortify  himself,  and 
gradually  pushed  his  outposts  nearer  and  nearer  to  Bellina.  He 
received  in  his  camp  large  numbers  of  fugitives  from  Bosnia,  among 
whom  were  a  great  many  capable  of  bearing  arms.  The  Turks  at  this 
time  abandoned  Little  Zvornik,  which  was  immediately  occupied 
and  fortified  by  the  Servians,  thus  placing  them  in  complete  possession 
of  the  right  bank  of  the  Drina. 

On  the  Timok,  General  Lieshanin  assumed  the  offensive  on  the 
2d  of  July.  The  first  ban  of  this  division,  and  the  "  Holy  Legion," 
a  volunteer  body,  were  concentrated  in  and  around  Saitchar,  while  the 
second  ban  held  the  entire  Timok  line.  Taking  up  the  line  of  march 
for  Widdin,  he  encountered  the  enemy  in  the  neighborhood  of  Karaul ; 
and  as  his  troops  displayed  great  difficulty  in  being  managed,  they 
were  soon  put  to  rout,  and  in  the  evening  he  returned  to  Saitchar  with 
considerable  loss.  On  the  following  morning  Osman  Pasha  crossed 
into  the  Servian  territory,  and  immediately  began  to  deploy  his  troops. 
The  Servian  cavalry  fought  to  prevent  this,  but  were  forced  to  retire 
into  Saitchar.  Kieshanin,  who  feared  to  have  his  line  of  retreat  cut 
off,  finally  ordered  the  fortifications  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Timok 
to  be  abandoned.  The  Servian  loss  on  these  two  days  was  said  to 
have  been  over  eighteen  hundred  men,  a  great  number  of  whom  were 
killed,  while  the  loss  of  the  Turks  is  estimated  to  have  been  far  greater. 
But  although  Osman  Pasha  continued  to  harass  the  Servians,  even  as 
far  south  as  Belgradshik,  he  did  not  intend  to,  nor  could  he  follow  up 
his  victory,  for  the  principal  Turkish  army  was  by  no  means  in  a  con- 
dition to  sustain  him  in  any  forward  movement  that  he  might  make. 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA  AND  MONTENEGRO. 


405 


406  THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND  MONTENEGRO. 

In  the  south,  General  Tchernayeff  had  left  the  division  of  South 
Morava,  at  Alexinatz  and  Deligrad  under  the  command  of  Colonel 
Milan  Ivanovitch,  with  directions  to  cross  the  border  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Morava  and  to  threaten  the  forti'ess  of  Nissa.  With  the  greater 
part  of  his  army  Tchernayeff  marched  to  the  left,  to  Bania  and 
Gurgussovatz,  and  then  leaving  Nissa  on  his  right,  intended  to  cross 
the  border  and  march  on  Ak  Palanka  and  Pirot.  Ivanowitch,  on 
July  2d,  marched  with  two  brigades,  two  columns,  towards  Mramor 
and  into  the  valley  of  the  Toplitza.  Here  he  had  a  short  engagement 
with  the  enemy,  and  seemed  to  have  been  successful  in  drawing  the 
attention  of  the  garrison  of  Nissa.  Tchernayeff  moved  the  greater  part 
of  his  army  on  the  road  from  Gurgussovatz  to  Ak  Palanka,  while 
a  small  detachment  was  ordered  to  advance  to  the  right  upon  Nissa 
by  w'ay  of  Granada,  to  watch  it  also  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Morava, 
and  thus  impress  the  Turks  with  the  idea  of  an  intended  siege  of  this 
fortress.  A  detachment  on  the  left  of  the  main  army  was  ordered  to 
march  toward  Pirot.  On  July  4th  Tchernayeff  appeared  before  Ak 
Palanka  and  Pirot,  and,  after  a  short  engagement  before  the  former 
city,  entered  them  on  the  5th.  As,  however,  he  did  not  receive  the  aid 
from  the  Bulgarians  that  he  had  expected,  and  as  the  misfortunes  of 
Lieshanin  on  the  Timok  had  cast  a  decided  gloom  over  the  Servian 
operations,  Prince  Milan  ordered  him  to  return  to  Servia;  and  on 
July  10th  he  left  Ak  Palanka  and  Pirot,  and  set  out  on  his  march 
back  to  Servia. 

With  this  occurrence  the  offensive  movements  of  the  Servians  came 
to  an  end,  and  their  forces  retired  into  Servia.  The  Turkish  movements 
did  not  begin  until  the  last  days  of  the  month.  During  the  three 
weeks  that  intervened  compai*ative  quiet  prevailed,  but  few  engage- 
ments occurring,  and  no  movements  of  any  account  taking  place. 

In  the  latter  part  of  July  a  combined  movement  of  the  Turks  upon 
the  Timok  line  began.  The  troops  participating  in  this  action  were 
the  corps  of  Eyub  Pasha,  from  Nissa,  reinforced  on  its  right  wing  by 
the  newly-arrived  division  of  Solciman  Pasha,  and  the  strong  division 
of  Osman  Pasha  from  Widdin.  The  two  principal  points  of  the  Ser- 
vians on  the  Timok  line  were  Gurgussovatz  and  Paitchar,  with  their 
surroundings.  Eyub  Pasha  marched  against  Gurgussovatz.  On  his 
right  wing  Solciman  Pasha  advanced  on  the  line  Pirot-Pandiralo, 
while  on  the  left  wing  Hafiz  Pasha  led  the  advanced  guard  on  the 


THE    WAR  IN  SEE  VIA   AND  MONTENEGRO.  407 

line  Granada-Derwent ;  this  was  followed  by  the  reserve  under  Eyub 
himself.  The  entire  force  of  Eyub  Pasha  at  this  time  was  estimated 
at  thirty-three  thousand  men,  of  whom,  however,  at  least  ten  thousand 
remained  in  Nissa,  while  the  mobile  reserve,  to  an  equal  number,  Avas 
posted  along  the  road  from  Nissa  to  Granada ;  so  that,  for  the  attack 
on  Gurgussovatz,  only  thirteen  thousand  men  were  at  the  disposal  of 
the  General,  who  was  afterward  but  slightly  reinforced  from  the 
reserve.  Osman  Pasha  commanded  the  operations  against  Saitchar, 
having  at  his  disposal  about  eighteen  thousand  troops  of  the  regular 
army.  For  the  attack  on  the  Timok  line  the  Turks  had,  at  the  most, 
thirty-five  thousand  men  of  the  regular  army,  to  which  were  added 
thousands  of  Bashi-Bazouks. 

On  the  28th  of  July  Osman  Pasha  attacked  the  advanced  j^ost  of 
Lieshanin  at  Weliki  Iswor,  forcing  it  to  retreat  to  Saitchar.  Large 
numbers  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  city  now  began  to  leave,  and,  after 
a  short  engagement  on  August  5th,  General  Lieshanin  ordered  the 
city  to  be  abandoned.  The  remainder  of  the  inhabitants  then  left, 
and  in  the  evening  General  Lieshanin,  with  the  garrison,  retreated 
toward  Paratchin.  He  did  not,  however,  go  as  far  as  the  valley  of 
the  Morava,  but  made  a  halt  in  the  defiles  of  Bolyevatz  and  Lukovo, 
On  the  6th  the  Turks  entered  Saitchar,  and,  as  there  were  no  inhabit- 
ants on  whom  to  practice  cruelties,  they  contented  themselves  with 
burning  nearly  the  whole  town.  While  these  events  were  occurring 
on  the  lower  Timok,  Hafiz  Pasha,  on  July  29th,  attacked  the  Servians 
at  Granada.  The  latter  defended  themselves  bravely  here  and  at 
Derwent,  on  July  30th  and  31st,  but  were  forced  to  retire  on  Gur- 
gussovatz ;  all  the  more  so  since  Soleiraan  Pasha  had  also  entered 
Servian  territory  by  way  of  Pandiralo,  and  could  be  prevented  from 
marching  on  by  Horvatovitch  only  with  the  greatest  difiiculty.  On 
August  2d  Horvatovitch  was  forced  to  abandon  all  his  advanced 
positions  on  the  border,  and  then  assembled  his  entire  forces,  about 
six  thousand  men,  in  the  position  of  Tresibaba,  south  of  Gurgussovatz. 
Hafiz  and  Soleiman  Pasha  now  united  their  forces,  and  Eyub  himself 
came  on  to  assume  the  chief  command  of  the  troops  in  the  attack  on 
Tresibaba.  Horvatovitch  continued  to  defend  this  position  on  the  3d 
and  4th,  but  was  forced  on  the  latter  day  to  abandon  it  to  the  vastly 
superior  enemy,  as  well  as  on  the  6th,  Gurgussovatz,  where  he  would 
have  been  in  danger  of  being  completely  surrounded  in  case  of  longer 


408  THE    WAR  IN  SEE  VIA  AND  MONTENEGRO. 

delay.  He  retreated  to  the  defiles  of  Bania,  and  left  his  rear-guard  at 
Tchitluk  and  Zerovitza  and  entered  into  close  communication  with  the 
camps  at  Alexinatz  against  Mramor,  and  into  the  Toplitza  Valley. 
At  Mramor  this  division  encountered  the  forces  under  Ali  Sahib  and 
the  garrison  of  Nissa,  and  was  forced  by  them  to  retreat.  The  Turks, 
however,  having  gained  this  advantage  on  the  Timok  line  did  not 
follow  it  up,  but  soon  after  abandoned  their  positions  again ;  so  that, 
on  August  18th,  Horvatovitch  again  entered  Gurgussovatz.  They 
then  concentrated  all  their  forces  at  Nissa,  for  a  combined  attack  on 
the  positions  Alexinatz-Deligrad,  on  the  Southern  Morava.  These 
operations  were  under  the  chief  command  of  Abdul  Kerim  Pasha,  the 
Minister  of  War. 

From  Nissa  he  proceeded  to  march  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  and 
on  the  19th  there  was  an  outpost  affair  between  some  of  his  troops  and 
the  advance  guards  of  the  Servian  garrison  of  Supovatz.  This  is  a 
fortified  place  which,  with  Knuchovatz,  Deligrad,  and  Alexinatz,  forms 
an  irregular  triangle,  Deligrad  being  the  apex.  As  a  fortified  post, 
however,  Supovatz  was  not  very  strong.  It  was  an  outwork  of  the 
Alexinatz  position.  The  Turks,  advancing  by  the  left  bank  of  the 
Morava,  marched  directly  on  Supovotz.  They  were  twenty-five  thou- 
sand strong,  and  there  being  only  six  battalions  of  Servian  troops  to 
resist  them,  the  latter  retired  on  Alexinatz,  and  Abdul  Kerim  Pasha 
occupied  Supovatz.  Next  day,  the  20th,  he  attacked  the  whole  of  the 
Servian  line  from  Alexinatz  to  Banja,  but  was  so  far  repelled  that  he 
did  not  succeed  in  getting  beyond  Peschitza.  The  battle  was  renewed 
day  after  day.  The  struggle  was  for  the  Alexinatz  position,  on  which, 
since  the  retreat  from  Saitchar,  Tchernayeff  had  staked  everything. 
If  the  Turks  succeeded  in  carrying  it  they  would  have  only  one  other 
obstacle  to  overcome,  Deligrad,  supposing  thei'e  to  be  much  of  a  garri- 
son and  a  camp  in  that  place.  TchernayeflT  had  under  him  an  army 
of  seventy-nine  thousand  men  ;  and  it  is  said  that,  for  his  attack  on  the 
Alexinatz  position  Abdul  Kerim  Pasha's  forces  had  been  increased  to 
forty  thousand  men.  If  he  could  take  Alexinatz  and  Deligrad  he 
would  avoid  all  the  passes,  and  have  open  before  him  a  broad  high 
road  and  the  IMorava  Valley  all  the  way  to  Belgrade. 

On  the  26th  the  Turkish  army  marched  down  the  left  bank  of  the 
Morava,  driving  in  the  Servian  foreposts  at  Supovatz,  and  pressing  on 
in  full  view  of  the  Alexinatz  defensive  lines.     The  cannonade  was  very 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND  MONTENEGRO. 


409 


The  Doseh. 

[A  religious  form  of  bodily  suffering  observed  by  the  followers  of  Mohammed,  in  order  to  gain 
favor  with  God.] 

heavy ;  and  its  smoke,  and  that  of  the  villages  burnt  by  the  Turks, 
filled  the  whole  valley  with  a  lurid  cloud.  The  brunt  of  the  Servian 
defence  fell  upon  the  Alexiuatz  brigade  of  militia,  supported  by  a  re- 
inforcement of  artillery  and  infantry  from  Deligrad.     The  fightmg 


410  THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA  AND  MONTENEGRO. 

was  long  and  obstinate,  for  the  Turks  were  in  great  strength.  The 
battle  lasted  for  hours  about  the  village  of  Tessica,  which  was  smothered 
in  the  smoke  of  the  combat,  but  the  Servian  infantry  withstood  all 
assaults  valiantly,  and  the  artillery  displayed  remarkable  skill  and 
valor.  About  four  o'clock  the  Turkish  retreat  commenced,  the  Ser- 
vians having  assumed  the  offensive.  The  Turks  were  driven  back 
across  the  frontier  with  heavy  loss. 

After  the  failure  of  these  operations,  Abdul  Kerim  determined  to 
unite  his  entire  army  on  the  left  bank,  effect  a  greater  extension  toward 
the  west,  to  pass  by  Alexinatz  and  Deligrad,  and  if  possible,  to  descend 
into  the  valley  of  the  Morava  on  the  left  bank.  Eyub  Pasha  was 
therefore,  ordered  to  cross  over  to  the  left  bank  of  the  river  at  Peschitza, 
while  on  the  right  bank  there  remained  but  a  few  bodies  of  irregular 
troops.  These,  in  order  to  cover  the  crossing  of  Eyub,  attacked  Alexi- 
natz on  the  28th,  and  then  retired  again.  On  August  30th  Abdul 
Kerim  had  gathered  his  main  army  on  the  left  bank,  near  Peschitza. 

On  the  morning  of  September  1st  the  positions  of  the  Servian  lines 
were  pretty  nearly  as  follows:  Their  extreme  right  was  thrown  out  a 
little  to  the  south  and  west  beyond  the  village  of  Sitkowatz,  and  went 
northward  of  that  village  as  far  as  Precilowitz,  another  village.  The 
Servians  also  occupied  Mersel,  close  to  the  road  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Morava  and  Belja,  which  is  on  rising  ground.  On  the  southwest 
side  of  Belja  the  left  of  the  Servians  extended  back,  in  a  northeasterly 
direction,  along  the  Alexinatz  position. 

In  the  battle  which  followed  the  Servians  were  defeated,  after  fight- 
ing all  day ;  and  the  Turks  got  possession  of  the  whole  left  bank  of 
the  Morava,  opposite  the  town  of  Alexinatz,  and  of  the  road  which 
leads  westward  to  Kruchovatz;  but  not  of  the  northern  road,  from 
Alexinatz  to  Deligrad,  which  is  the  high  road  to  Belgrade  through 
the  Morava  Valley.  For  some  hours  the  battle  was  almost  entirely 
one  of  artillery,  commencing  with  three  batteries  which  were  ad- 
vanced from  Drenovat,  and  which  at  first  were  only  encountered  by 
two  on  the  Servian  side.  The  Turks  made  a  creeping  advance  in  a 
northeasterly  direction,  the  Servian  batteries,  which  were  at  Belja, 
and  the  more  northerly  Suotna — for  there  are  two  villages  of  that 
name — offering  a  very  steady  resistance  by  a  well-sustained  and  regular 
fire.  But  the  Servian  infantry,  which  behaved  very  ill,  failing  to 
support  the  artillery  position,  it  was  turned,  about  nightfall,  by  an 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA   AND   MONTENEGRO.  411 

advance  of  the  Turkish  infantry,  enabling  the  army  of  Abdul  Kcrim 
Pasha  to  get  far  on  past  the  town,  and  threatening  to  cut  off  the 
retreat  to  Deligrad. 

The  Servian  front  was  about  four  miles  long  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Morava,  the  force  holding  it  consisting  of  about  twenty-five  thousand 
infantry,  and,  perhaps,  twenty-five  batteries  of  cannon.  At  the  same 
time,  on  the  right  bank  and  round  to  the  east  of  Alexinatz,  a  perfectly 
distinct  battle  was  proceeding,  the  whole  of  the  Turkish  forces  no 
doubt  acting  in  concert,  while  the  Servians  were  embarrassed  by  the 
wide  area  of  the  attacks  which  threatened  Alexinatz.  A  Turkish  force, 
at  daybreak,  had  a  fight  with  musketry  and  artillery  against  a  Servian 
detachment  in  Katan,  on  the  right  bank.  Katan  was  fired  and  the 
Servians  compelled  to  evacuate  it.  Then,  to  the  east,  from  the  direc- 
tion of  St.  Stephen  and  Stanej,  the  Turks  pressed  forward  on  Pracovacz, 
within  an  hour  of  Alexinatz,  but  the  main  battle  was  in  the  valley 
and  the  slopes  of  the  left  bank  of  the  Morava ;  and  to  this  we  have 
chiefly  confined  our  attention.  A  number  of  Russian  officers  were  there 
killed  while  bravely  attempting  to  keep  the  Servians  up  to  their  work. 

After  remaining  ten  days  in  aj^parent  inaction,  without  following 
up  their  victory  of  September  1st  in  the  neighborhood  of  Alexinatz, 
the  Turkish  army  recommenced  its  movements  against  the  Servian 
positions  still  held  between  that  town  and  Deligrad.  On  September 
10th  the  Turks  attempted  to  throw  a  bridge  over  the  Morava,  near 
Trjnan,  but  were  repulsed  by  the  Servians.  They  made  a  second 
attempt  on  the  11th,  at  Bovovichte,  Avhen  a  severely-contested  engage- 
ment ensued  along  the  whole  line  between  Vonkonja  and  Nijni 
Adrovatz.  The  Turks  were  again  repulsed.  The  Montenegi'ins,  under 
Macho  Verbitza,  particularly  distinguished  themselves  in  this  affair; 
Verbitza  was  slightly  wounded.  The  fighting  began  again  on  the  12th 
on  both  banks  of  the  Morava,  from  Trjnaa  to  Bovovichte.  The  Ser- 
vians succeeded  in  throwing  a  bridge  over  the  river  below  Katun, 
perceiving  which  the  Turks  made  signals  with  lights  in  order  to  warn 
the  bulk  of  their  forces  of  the  Servian  movement.  The  Circassian 
and  other  Turkish  cavalry  charged  the  Servians,  and  an  engagement 
ensued  along  the  whole  line,  the  result  of  which  was  favorable  for  the 
Servians,  who  succeeded  in  driving  back  the  Turks  to  a  distance  of 
two  or  three  miles  from  the  left  bank  of  the  Morava. 

The  Montenegrins,  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  were  divided 


412  THE    WAR  IN  SEE  VIA  AND  MONTENEGRO. 

into  two  corps ;  the  one  on  the  southern  frontier,  opposite  the  Turkish 
positions  of  Medun,  Podgoritza,  and  Scutari,  kept  itself  strictly  on  the 
defensive ;  while  the  other,  on  the  frontier  towards  Herzegovina,  took 
the  offensive,  and  marched  upon  Stolatz  in  several  columns.  One 
column  on  the  right  had  marched  toward  Gatchko,  taken  several 
works  before  the  city,  and  tried  to  surround  it.  Selim  Pasha  left  the 
necessary  garrison  in  it,  and  then  marched  with  tw^o  battalions  toward 
Nevesigne,  intending  to  go  from  there  to  Mostar,  where  he  was  to 
meet  Mukhtar  Pasha.  On  the  11th  of  July  the  central  column,  said 
to  have  been  led  by  Prince  Nicholas  in  person,  appeared  before  Stolatz, 
and,  after  a  short  engagement,  occupied  it  as  well  as  the  surrounding 
forts. 

On  the  16th  the  Montenegrins  attacked  Selim  Pasha  at  Nevesigne, 
and  forced  him  to  retire  to  Blagui,  where  they  defeated  him  again  on 
the  17th.  But  now  Mukhtar  Pasha  came  up  from  Mostar  with 
reserves,  and  on  the  19th  found  before  him  but  four  Montenegrin 
battalions,  which  he  defeated  after  a  brave  resistance.  After  this 
event  the  entire  Montenegrin  forces  retreated  by  way  of  Nevesigne, 
Gatchko,  and  Korito.  Mukhtar  Pasha,  who  followed  on  more  westerly 
courses,  intended  to  get  ahead  of  them  and  cut  off  their  retreat  to 
Montenegro.  At  the  same  time,  the  Turkish  corps  of  Albania  was  to 
attack  the  southern  border.  On  July  27th  Mukhtar  Pasha  arrived  at 
the  convent  of  Plana,  several  miles  north  of  Bilsk,  and  from  there 
intended,  on  the  28th,  to  march  to  the  left  and  attack  the  Montene- 
grins in  the  rear.  He  therefore  ordered  the  commander  of  Bilek  to 
take  a  position  to  the  east  of  the  city  and  to  await  further  orders,  so 
that  he  might  be  able  to  assist  Mukhtar  Pasha  if  necessary.  At  the 
same  time,  the  commandant  of  Trebigne  was  ordered  to  send  up  a 
train  of  provisions — which  was  certainly  a  difficult  order  to  fulfill, 
considering  that  he  had  veiy  scant  provisions  himself.  On  July  28th 
Mukhtar  Pasha  began  his  march  from  Plana  in  three  columns;  but 
he  had  hardly  set  out  on  his  march  when,  to  his  astonishment,  he  was 
attacked  by  the  Montenegrins.  The  advanced  guard  retreated  as  the 
Turks  began  to  reply  to  their  fire,  and  on  its  retreat  was  reinforced  by 
other  corps  on  its  flanks.  The  Turks,  as  usual,  were  accompanied  by 
Bashi-Bazouks,  who,  as  soon  as  they  saw  that  there  was  to  be  serious 
fighting,  took  to  flight,  in  which  they  also  involved  some  of  the  other 
battalions.     As  soon  as  the   Montenegrins  saw  this  they  set  out  in 


THE    WAR  IN  SERVIA  AND  MONTENEGRO.  413 

pursuit,  cutting  down  with  their  long  knives  every  one  who  came  in 
their  way.  The  Turkish  regulars  were  cut  down  while  fightiug  brt^vcly 
for  their  artillery.  Among  the  prisoners  taken  was  Osmau  Pasha, 
the  commander  of  one  of  the  three  Turkish  columns.  Mukhtar  Pasha 
retreated  to  Bilek,  and,  not  finding  here  the  necessary  means  to 
restore  his  army,  continued  his  retreat  to  Trebigne,  where  he  arrived 
July  29th. 

The  allied  Montenegrins  and  Herzegovinians  immediately  separated 
into  several  corps,  one  of  which  took  up  its  position  before  Bilek, 
while  the  others  blocked  up  the  roads  leading  from  Trebigne.  Mukh- 
tar Pasha,  from  Trebigne,  sent  repeated  messages  to  Constantinople 
asking  for  aid,  which  in  due  time  was  rendered  him.  On  September 
2d  he  set  out  from  Trebigne  with  twelve  thousand  men,  crossed  the 
frontier  on  the  3d,  at  Saslap,  and,  after  a  short  engagement  at  Zagona, 
intrenched  himself  at  Saslap,  the  Montenegrins  taking  up  their  posi- 
tions opposite  to  him.  Occasional  engagements  now  took  place  between 
the  different  outposts,  until  on  September  16th,  complete  quiet  began 
to'prevail  here  also. 

On  the  southern  border  of  Montenegro  the  Fort  Medun  was  the 
centre  of  operations.  The  Montenegrins  succeeded  in  surrounding  it, 
and  repulsed  several  attempts  of  the  Turks  to  provision  it.  In  the 
beginning  of  August  the  Turks  received  considerable  reinforcements; 
and  on  August  15th,  Mahmoud  Pasha,  the  Turkish  commander, 
attacked  the  Montenegins,  but  was  completely  routed,  his  losses  being 
very  great.  Mahmoud  Pasha  was  summoned  before  a  court-martial, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Dervish  Pasha.  On  the  6th  of  September  he 
crossed  to  the  north  shore  of  Moratcha,  at  Rogatzi,  and  there  attacked 
the  Montenegrins,  but  was  repulsed  with  great  loss.  On  the  11th  he 
atempted  another  battle,  on  the  heights  of  Welie  Brodo,  northwest  of 
Podgoritza,  but  was  forced  to  retreat  to  the  latter  city. 


414  EFFORTS  FOR   PEACE. 

CHAPTER   XXV. 

EFFOKTS  FOR  PEACE. 

When,  in  July,  Servia  and  Montenegro  had  declared  war  against 
the  Porte,  the  other  dependencies  of  Turkey  occupied  various  attitudes 
to^vardsher.  Herzegoviua  and  Bosnia  were  in  revolt;  an  insurrection 
had  occurred  in  Bulgaria,  which  had  been  put  down  with  severity. 
Egypt  reluctantly  sent  the  contingent  of  troops  demanded  by  the 
Porte.  Roumauia  occupied  a  neutral  attitude,  stationing  a  corps  of 
observation  on  her  frontier  and  carefully  guarding  her  neutrality. 
On  July  16th  the  Roumanian  government  addressed  a  memorandum 
to  the  guaranteeing  powers,  expressing  the  desire  that  the  Porte  should 
recognize  the  historical  name  of  Roumania  for  the  united  princii^alities 
of  Wallachia  and  Moldavia,  as  the  other  powers  had  done.  It  deman- 
ded the  recognition  of  a  Roumanian  representative  as  one  of  the  ac- 
credited diplomatic  body  at  Constantinople;  a  definition  of  boundaries 
relative  to  the  islands  of  the  Danube  which  belong  partly  to  Turkey 
and  to  Roumania ;  and,  further,  it  demanded  for  Roumania  the  privi- 
lege of  making  trade,  postal,  telegraphic,  and  delivery  contracts ; 
and  finally,  a  rectification  of  the  boundaries  on  the  lower  Danube,  so  as 
to  assure  a  free  use  of  the  stream  to  the  adjacent  Roumanians. 

The  declaration  of  war  by  Servia  was  followed  by  a  like  act  on  the 
part  of  Montenegro.  Under  these  circumstances  the  European  powers 
were  constrained  to  consider  what  policy  they  should  adopt  in  reference 
to  the  new  questions  that  were  arising.  The  Turkish  government 
declared  its  purpose  not  to  recognize  Servia  and  IMontenegro  as  war- 
making  powers;  toward  Servia,  in  particular,  as  being  a  vassal-state, 
it  would  place  itself  on  the  ground  of  formal  right.  The  Porte  had 
signed  the  Convention  of  Ghent  of  1864,  which  provided  for  the 
immunity  of  the  sanitary  organizations  of  belligerents  and  for  the  care 
of  the  wounded ;  but  it  was  announced  that  jMontcnegro  and  Servia 
not  being  recognized  as  belligerents,  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty 
would  not  be  regarded  as  binding  with  respect  to  them.  The  inter- 
national committee  of  the  Convention  of  Ghent  addressed  a  memorial 


EFFORTS  FOR   PEACE. 


415 


'rcy^ 


^t^K 


to  the  powers  which  had  signed  the  treaty,  in  which,  without  discussing 
the  political  question  set  up  by  Turkey,  it  suggested  that  any  power 
as  party  to  the  convention  was  under  a  double  obligation,  in  case  of  a 
civil  war,  to  observe  its  stipulations  toward  its  own  subjects.  It  did 
not  become  necessary  for  the  powers  to  talie  action  on  the  subject,  for, 
at  the  instance  of  the  English  government,  the  Turkish  commanders 
were  ordered  to  observe  the  principles  of  the  convention,  in  their 
dealings  with  the  insurgents. 

Sultan  Murad  V.,  soon  after  his  accession,  revealed  his  inability  to 
cope  with  the  difficulties  of  his  situation,  and  his  incapacity  became 


416  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

more  manifest  as  those  difficulties  grew  with  the  louder  demands  of 
the  powers  upon  the  Porte.  He  became  afflicted  with  fits  of  melan- 
choly and  stupor.  A  physician  was  called  in  from  Vienna,  who 
examined  into  his  case  and  gave  the  opinion  that  he  was  in  an 
irresponsible  condition ;  his  disease  could  not  be  pronounced  incurable, 
yet  it  demanded  a  complete  release  from  business.  Acting  upon  this 
advice,  the  Ministerial  Council  decided,  August  31st,  that  Murad 
should  be  deposed.  The  Shcikh-ul-Islam  was  consulted,  as  he  had 
been  in  the  case  of  Abdul-Aziz,  and,  he  giving  a  favorable  response, 
the  deposition  was  effected  in  a  very  quiet  manner. 

Abdul  Hamid,  who  had  been  named  as  the  new  Sultan,  went  in 
state  to  the  palace  of  Top  Kapou,  where  he  was  received  by  all  the 
Ministers  and  high  functionaries.  After  the  Fetvah  deposing  Murad 
v.,  on  the  ground  of  ill  health,  had  been  read,  the  ceremony  of  ac- 
knowledging and  proclaiming  the  new  Sultan,  under  the  title  of  Abdul 
Hamid  II.  took  place.  His  Majesty's  accession  was  enthusiastically 
received  by  the  troops  and  the  people  assembled.  The  Sultan  after- 
wards repaired  to  the  palace,  salutes  of  artillery  being  fired  during  his 
progress.  The  ceremony  of  the  Salamlik  was  performed  next  day, 
and  the  Imperial  Hatt  proclaiming  the  new  Sultan's  accession  was 
read  at  the  Mosque  of  Eyoub  on  the  9th  of  September. 

The  Imperial  decree  proclaiming  the  accession  of  Sultan  Abdul 
Hamid  II.  declared  that  his  IMajesty  ascended  the  throne  in  conformity 
with  the  prescriptions  of  Ottoman  law.  The  Grand  Vizier,  Ministers, 
and  other  functionaries,  who  were  confirmed  in  their  posts,  were 
enjoined  to  assure  the  liberty  of  all  subjects  of  the  Porte  without 
distinction,  to  maintain  public  tranquility,  and  watch  over  the  proper 
administration  of  justice.  "The  critical  condition  of  the  Empire," 
continues  the  Imperial  decree,  "  arises  from  a  bad  application  of  the 
laws.  Hence  have  resulted  financial  discredit,  defective  working  of 
the  tribunals,  and  the  non-development  of  trade,  manufactures,  and 
agriculture.  To  remedy  these  evils  a  special  council  will  be  charged 
to  guarantee  the  exact  execution  of  existing  laws  or  those  measures 
which  may  be  promulgated.  The  council  will  also  superintend  the 
Budget.  Public  functions  will  be  intrusted  to  capable  persons,  who 
will  be  held  responsible,  and  will  no  longer  be  dismissed  without 
cause."  The  Ministers  wore  requested  to  take  measures  for  the  exten- 
sion of  public  education,  and  to  carry  out  reforms  destined  to  ameliorate 


EFFORTS  FOR   PEACE.  417 

the  administrative  and  financial  position  of  the  country.  "Herzegovina 
and  Bosnia,"  said  the  Sultan's  Government,  "revolted  in  consequence 
of  malevolent  instigations,  and  Servia  joined  this  rebellion.  The  blood 
that  has  been  shed  on  both  sides  is  that  of  children  of  the  same  country. 
The  Ministers  will  take  efficacious  measures  to  terminate  this  ques- 
tion." The  Imperial  Hatt  confirmed  all  existing  treaties  with  foreign 
Powers,  and  stated  that  the  Ministers  would  carry  them  out,  and 
would  endeavor  to  strengthen  and  extend  the  good  relations  between 
Turkey  and  foreign  States.  Halif  Pedif  Pasha  was  appointed  Minister 
of  War  in  the  place  of  Abdul  Kerim  Pasha,  who  took  the  command 
of  the  army,  and  Savfet  Pasha  was  appointed  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  in  the  place  of  the  Minister  who  had  been  murdered  by 
Hassan. 

The  European  powers,  especially  Austria  and  England,  made  efforts 
both  at  the  Turkish  and  the  Servian  capital  to  secure  armistice.  The 
Servians  insisted  upon  the  accomplishment  of  the  single  purpose  with 
which  they  had  begun  hostilities — the  freedom  of  their  Slavic  brethren 
— and  would  listen  to  no  propositions  which  did  not  have  that  end  in 
view.  As  a  condition  to  an  armistice  with  Servia,  the  Porte  demanded 
that  Servia  should  ask  for  it ;  Turkey  had  no  interest  in  demanding  an 
armistice,  and  could  only  take  it  into  consideration  as  a  preliminary 
to  peace.  Sir  Henry  Elliot,  the  English  representative,  requested 
Savet  Pasha  to  name  conditions  of  peace,  which  the  powers  might 
consider  and  impose  upon  Servia  if  they  approved  them ;  but  an  armis- 
tice, he  said,  was  indispensable,  to  give  the  powers  time  to  come  to 
an  understanding  concerning  the  proposed  conditions.  Finally,  by 
strenuous  exertions,  an  armistice  of  seven  days,  to  expire  on  September 
25th,  was  agreed  to  between  the  Turkish  and  the  Servian  Govern- 
ments, by  the  mediation  of  the  British  Government  at  Constantinople 
and  at  Belgrade.  It  extended,  of  course,  to  the  hostilities  with  Mon- 
tenegro. The  Sultan's  Government  submitted  to  the  Ministers  of  the 
six  foreign  powers — Great  Britain,  Russia,  Austria,  Germany,  France, 
and  Italy — a  statement  of  the  conditions  it  would  ask.  These  were, 
the  possession  by  Turkish  troops  of  the  four  old  fortresses  in  Servia — 
namely,  those  of  Belgrade,  Semendria,  Schabatz,  and  Loshnitza — 
which  were  held  by  Turkey  before  1857;  the  demolition  of  all  other 
Servian  fortresses ;  the  reduction  of  the  Servian  army  to  ten  thousand 
men;  the  performance  of  an  act  of  personal  homage  to  the  Sultan  by 
27 


418  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

Prince  Milan  at  Constantinople;  the  payment  of  an  indemnity  or 
increased  tribute  to  the  Sultan;  the  construction  of  a  railway  under 
Turkish  management,  to  join  Belgrade  with  Nish,  Adrianople,  and  the 
Turkish  capital ;  and  the  expulsion  of  all  people  who  have  emigrated 
from  the  adjacent  Turkish  provinces  into  Servia. 

The  powers  at  once  pronounced  several  of  these  conditions  unreason- 
able. Turkey  afterwards  consented  to  waive  or  to  modify  two  or 
three  of  her  demands,  such  as  the  personal  homage,  and  to  accept  the 
surrender  of  two  instead  of  four  Servian  fortresses.  In  the  meantime 
a  fresh  act  of  defiance  to  Turkey  was  committed  in  the  Servian  camp 
at  Deligrad.  The  troops  there,  amongst  whom  there  were  not  less  than 
five  thousand  Russian  volunteers,  many  Russian  ofiicers  or  non-com- 
missioned officers,  on  September  IGth  proclaimed  Prince  Milan  King 
of  Servia.  Their  officers  assembled  and  came  to  General  Tchernayeff* 
to  announce  this  declaration.  The  chaplains  or  regimental  priests  of 
the  army  consecrated  it  with  a  solemn  religious  service.  The  General 
formally  accepted  this  important  act  and  communicated  it  to  the 
officers  commanding  at  Paratjin  and  elsewhere,  besides  sending  an 
account  of  it  to  Prince  Milan,  whom  he  saluted  as  King.  This  affair 
caused  disquiet  to  the  powers  and  the  adjacent  territories,  and  thi'eat- 
ened  to  embarrass  the  negotiations  for  peace.  But  the  Servian 
Government,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Risticz,  was  constrained  to 
disavow  it,  and  caused  the  deputation  from  the  army  to  be  turned 
back  before  it  had  reached  Belgrade. 

On  the  7th  of  October  the  representatives  of  the  powers  formally 
proposed  to  the  Porte  an  armistice  of  six  weeks.  On  tlie  12th  the 
Porte,  in  reply,  offered  to  grant  an  armistice  of  six  months  beginning 
October,  1876,  during  which  period  the  Servians  would  be  expected 
not  to  molest  those  places  which  were  then  in  possession  of  the  Turks ; 
the  introduction  of  ammunition  and  arms  for  Montenegro  and  Servia 
should  not  be  permitted;  and  all  transactions  calculated  to  arouse 
discontent  in  the  neighboring  provinces  were  to  be  avoided.  In 
connection  with  this  proposition,  the  Turkish  government  submitted 
the  di-aft  of  a  new  constitution  which  had  been  prepared  for  the  whole 
empire. 

General  Ignatiev,  Russian  Ambassador,  who  had  been  absent  for  a 
considerable  time,  returned  to  Constantinople  on  the  19th.  lie  at 
once   conferred   with   the   representatives   of  the  other  powers,   and 


EFFORTS  FOR   PEACE. 


419 


420  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

expressely  reiterated  the  demand  of  Russia  for  the  autonomy  of  Bul- 
garia, Bosnia,  and  Herzegovina,  and  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
reforms  promised  by  Turkey,  under  the  direction  of  a  commission  of 
the  European  powers.  The  action  of  the  Russian  Ambassador  was 
regarded  with  alarm  by  the  Turks,  for  they  looked  upon  it  as  an 
indication  that  Russia  had  determined  upon  an  ultimatum  with  the 
alternative  of  war. 

Unfavorable  rumors  came  from  Roumania  to  the  effect  that  Prince 
Charles  had  refused  to  proclaim  the  accession  of  Abdul  Hamid  as 
Sultan;  that  he  had  granted  permission  to  Russia  to  convey  troops 
through  his  territory;  and  that  a  large  gathering  of  troops  had  been 
ordered  near  Galatz,  for  the  autumnal  manoeuvres.  On  the  23d,  it 
was  discovered  that  a  plot  had  been  formed  among  the  adherents  of 
the  late  Sultan  for  the  deposition  of  Abdul  Hamid  and  the  installation 
of  Yusuf  Izzedin  Effendi,  son  of  Abdul  Aziz.  At  the  head  of  the 
conspiracy  were  jMeshid-Din  Effendi,  who  had  been  an  aspirant  for 
the  office  of  Sheikh-ul-Islam ;  Riza  Beg,  who  had  been  director  of  the 
archives;  the  Circassian,  Ramiz  Pasha,  and  several  eminent  uleraas. 
The  conspiracy,  which  had  many  adherents  among  the  fanatical  Mos- 
lems, was  intended  to  be  carried  out  on  November  1st,  but  was  betrayed, 
the  leaders  secretly  disposed  of,  and  many  of  their  followers  banished 
to  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago. 

The  suspension  of  hostilities  was  interrupted  by  several  slight  con- 
flicts. The  Servuan  army  in  the  Morava  Valley,  under  General 
Tchernayeff,  having  refused  a  prolongation  of  the  armistice,  began 
fighting  again,  attacking  the  Turkish  positions.  A  considerable  en- 
gagement took  place  September  28th,  and  was  maintained  obstinately 
during  twelve  hours,  but  without  any  decisive  result.  At  six  in  the 
morning  of  that  day  seventeen  Servian  batteries  opened  fire,  five  of 
them  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Morava,  against  the  Turks.  The  line  of 
battle  extended  from  Drusevacz  by  Alexinatz  and  Deligrad,  and  on 
the  heights  along  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Djuniska  mountain  stream  as 
far  as  Veliki  Sitjegova.  An  hour  later,  the  Servian  infantry  advanced. 
In  front  towards  the  Morava,  the  attack  was  directed  against  the 
Turkish  bridge.  But  a  more  vehement  attack  was  made  on  the 
Turkish  left  wing,  commanded  by  Hafiz  and  Adeh  Pashas,  in  order 
to  cut  off  the  line  of  retreat  of  tlie  Turks  to  Nish.  Sixteen  Servian 
battalions  crossed   the  IMorava  at  Drusevacz,  on  a  pontoon  bridge 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE.  421 

thrown  across  during  the  night,  and  advanced  by  Tesicza  against  the 
Turkish  right  Aving  under  Fazly  Pasha.  It  was  a  double  flanking 
movement,  which,  with  the  insufiiciency  of  the  forces  and  the  badness 
of  the  Servian  troops,  was  not  justified,  and  therefore  completely  failed. 
At  noon  the  Servians  had  been  driven  back  on  all  points,  with  great 
loss ;  and  the  artillery  fire,  which  had  been  kept  up  since  the  early 
morning,  stopped  for  a  short  time.  In  the  afternoon  the  attacks 
against  the  Turkish  left  flank  were  renewed,  and  again  in  the  evening, 
but  were  at  all  times  repulsed  with  great  loss.  Among  the  Servian 
dead  were  many  Russian  ofiicers,  who  could  always  be  seen  in  the  front 
of  the  attacking  column.  Both  armies  at  the  close  of  the  engagement 
still  held  their  former  positions.  On  the  29th  of  September  General 
Tchernayeflf  made  an  unsuccessful  assault  upon  the  Turkish  left  wing. 
On  the  30th  the  Turks  opened  an  effective  artillery  fire  and  established 
themselves  upon  the  Sudak  stream,  occupied  Gredetin  and  Pesh- 
tchanitza,  and  on  the  following  day  the  heights  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  stream.  No  further  actions  worthy  of  notice  occurred  till  the  19th 
of  October.  On  that  day  the  Turks  attacked  the  Servian  intrench- 
ments  about  Djunis,  a  few  miles  west  of  Alexinatz,  on  the  road  to 
Kruchewatz,  by  which  they  threatened  to  turn  the  right  of  the 
Servian  position  at  Deligrad,  and  to  break  through  the  barrier,  closing 
the  Morava  Valley  against  them  in  their  advance  towards  Belgrade. 
The  troops  of  the  Porte  occupied  thirteen  fortified  positions  of  the 
Servians,  who  were  totally  defeated,  and  lost  a  large  number  of  men 
killed.  On  the  day  of  the  festival  of  Bairam,  in  the  midst  of  a  storm 
of  rain  and  wind,  the  Turks  simultaneously  attacked  Buimir,  a  posi- 
tion to  the  south  of  Alexinatz,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Morava,  and 
the  line  from  Veliki  Siljegovacz  to  Gredetin,  held  by  the  troops  of 
Colonel  Horvatovitch.  The  infantry  advanced  slowly,  but  almost 
without  interruption.  The  Servians  in  their  forests  defended  them- 
selves with  the  utmost  pertinacity.  Sometimes  the  hand-to-hand  fight- 
ing lasted  half  an  hour  at  one  spot;  but  the  fury  of  the  Turkish 
soldiers  was  irresistible ;  the  fortified  villages  and  redoubts  were  taken 
by  storm,  and  the  Servians  were  driven  into  the  western  mountains. 
The  Servian  losses  were  very  great.  The  battle  ended  at  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  on  account  of  the  darkness.  There  was  also  fighting 
in  another  direction,  on  the  same  day,  near  the  old  battle-ground  of 
Saitschar.     Here  the  Servians  moved   their  troops  up  against  the 


422  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

Turkish  positions  in  front  of  Saitschar  by  the  Lukovo  and  the  Banja 
Passes,  and,  assisted  by  a  large  number  of  Russians,  fought  with  the 
greatest  gallantry;  but  they  encountered  a  serious  resistance  at 
Pianinitza.  One  brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Medvedsisky,  was 
almost  completely  annihilated.  Another  Servian  force,  operating 
against  Kopit,  under  the  Russian  General  Nossilovski,  was  routed 
with  fearful  loss,  and  was  beaten  back  to  Lukovo,  the  Tui-ks,  in  their 
pursuit,  carrying  the  important  position  of  Boljevatz.  It  seems  to  be 
admitted  that,  under  their  Russian  officers  (there  are  now  fourteen  to 
every  battalion),  the  Servians  fought  better  than  they  had  fought 
before.  The  headquarters  of  the  Servian  army,  under  Tchernayeff, 
were  transferred  to  Kavnik. 

On  the  29th  of  October  a  severe  defeat  was  inflicted  upon  the 
Russo-Servian  array  of  General  Tchernayeff.  The  hill  of  Djunis,  or 
Trubavena,  which  commands  the  valley  of  the  Morava  opposite  Deli- 
grad,  was  stormed  by  the  Turkish  army  divisions  of  Hafiz  Pasha  and 
Soleiman  Pasha.  The  Servian  militia,  either  from  cowardice  or  ill- 
will  towards  the  Russian  officers  in  command,  refused  to  fight.  The 
brunt  of  the  conflict  Avas  borne  by  a  thousand  Russian  volunteers. 
These  fought  with  desperate  intrepidity,  and  several  hundreds  of  them 
were  killed.  But,  as  most  of  the  Servian  troops  fled,  the  position  had 
to  be  abandoned,  after  fighting  some  hours.  The  line  of  General 
Tchernayeff's  intrenched  posts  and  detachments  of  troops  was  thereby 
cut  in  two,  and  the  Turks  got  possession  of  the  western  road  leading 
to  Kruchevatz.  General  Tchernayeff  was  then  compelled  to  retire 
from  Deligrad,  and  to  leave  the  town  of  Alexinatz  to  its  fate.  That 
town,  after  a  long  bombardment,  surrendered  to  the  Turks  on  the 
31st.  The  Servian  headquarters  was  fixed  at  Razanj  for  a  day  or 
two,  but  as  it  seemed  now  as  though  no  material  resistance  could  be 
offered  to  a  Turkish  march  either  upon  Belgrade  or  upon  Kragojevatz, 
the  chief  military  arsenal  of  Servia,  Russia  interfered  with  her  ulti- 
matum, on  the  evening  of  Octob.er  31st,  demanding  the  assent  of 
Turkey  within  forty-eight  hours  to  an  armistice  of  two  months,  as  the 
alternative  of  her  recalling  her  ambassador  from  Constantinople. 
The  armistice  was  agreed  to,  the  Servians  were  released  from  their 
peril,  and  orders  were  sent  from  Constantinople  to  the  Turkish  com- 
manders to  cease  the  military  operations  in  Servia. 

On  the  2d  of  November,  Lord  Loftus,  the  British  Ambassador  in 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 


423 


The  Muezzin  Calling  to  Prayers. 


424  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

Russia,  had  an  inten'iew  with  the  Emperor  Alexander,  in  which 
"  His  Majesty  pledged  his  sacred  word  of  honor,  in  the  most  earnest 
and  solemn  manner,  that  he  had  no  intention  of  acquiring  Constanti- 
nople, and  that,  if  necessity  should  oblige  him  to  occupy  a  portion  of 
Bulgaria,  it  would  only  be  provisionally,  and  until  the  peace  and 
the  safety  of  the  Christian  population  were  secured," 

A  few  days  later  (10th  November),  the  Emperor  made  a  speech  at 
Moscow,  in  which  he  said,  "I  have  striven,  and  shall  still  strive,  to 
obtain  a  real  improvement  of  the  position  of  the  Christians  in  the 
East  by  peaceful  means.  But,  should  I  see  that  we  cannot  obtain 
such  guarantees  as  are  necessary  for  carrying  out  what  we  have  a 
right  to  demand  of  the  Porte,  I  am  firmly  determined  to  act  inde- 
pendently ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  in  this  case,  the  whole  of  Kussia 
will  respond  to  my  summons,  should  I  consider  it  necessary,  and 
should  the  honor  of  Russia  require  it." 

On  the  loth  Prince  Gortchakoff  published  a  circular  declaring  that 
Russia  did  not  desire  war,  and  would  do  her  utmost  to  prevent  it,  yet 
she  would  not  cease  her  efforts  until  the  humane  principles  for  which 
she  contended  were  fully  established. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  4th  of  November,  the  Earl  of  Derby  addressed 
a  circular  to  the  British  representatives  at  foreign  courts,  suggesting 
a  conference  at  Constantinople,  to  be  composed  of  two  representatives 
from  each  of  the  great  powers,  including  Turkey. 

The  Grand  Council  at  Constantinople  signified,  November  19th, 
the  acceptance  by  the  Porte  of  the  projected  conference.  On  the 
same  day,  Gortchakoff  formulated  another  important  circular,  ac- 
quainting the  Powers  with  the  details  of  their  demands. 

General  Ignatieff  was  instructed  to  submit  to  the  Conference  the 
following  programme:  1,  General  disarmament  of  Turks  and  Chris- 
tians in  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  and  Bulgaria;  2,  the  election  of  all 
oflBcers  by  the  parishes,  none  but  natives  being  eligible;  3,  the  forma- 
tion of  a  militia  and  a  police,  to  consist  of  Christians  and  Mussulmans, 
in  proportion  to  the  numerical  strength  of  each  denomination ;  4,  the 
concentration  of  the  Turkish  troops  in  certain  towns,  to  be  fixed  in 
advance;  5,  the  disbanding  of  the  irregular  troops  and  the  return  of 
the  Circassians  to  the  purely  Mussulman  provinces;  6,  the  abolition 
of  the  practice  of  farming  out  taxes  and  the  replacement  of  tithes  by 
pecuniary  imposts,  to  be  fixed  with  the  concurrence  of  the  rate-payers  i 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE.  425 

7,  the  use  by  tlie  Courts  aud  administrative  authorities  of  the  several 
Slavonic  languages  spoken  in  the  various  provinces ;  8,  the  convening 
of  an  Assembly  of  Notables,  to  advise  the  conference  upon  the 
administrative  reforms  to  be  introduced.^  (It  seems  intended  that  a 
special  assembly  is  to  be  convened  for  each  province,  and  that  the 
Bulgarian  Bishop  is  to  preside  over  the  sittings  of  the  Bulgarian 
Notables ;)  9,  Christian  Governors  to  be  appointed  by  the  Porte,  with 
the  consent  of  the  Powers,  for  the  three  provinces,  to  officiate  five  or  six 
years;  10,  the  punishment  of  all  persons  concerned  in  the  late  horrors 
and  the  indemnification  of  the  families  who  have  suffered;  11,  the 
institution  of  Consular  Commissions  to  superintend  the  carrying  out 
of  the  above  reforms. 

The  preliminary  conference  at  Constantinople  was  opened  on  the 
11th  of  December  in  the  palace  of  the  Russian  Embassy,  and  was 
participated  in  by  representatives  from  Great  Britain,  France,  Russia, 
Austria,  Hungary,  Germany,  and  Italy.  The  preliminary  conference 
came  to  an  end  on  December  21st ;  and  General  Ingatieff",  in  inform- 
ing the  Porte  of  the  fact,  invited  it  to  send  its  representative  to  the 
definite  conference,  which  was  to  begin  its  sessions  on  December  23d. 

In  the  middle  of  December  an  important  change  in  the  Government 
had  taken  place.  The  Grand  Vizier  Mehemet  Rushdi  Pasha  resigned, 
and  Midhat  Pasha  succeeded  him.  This  put  an  end  to  a  long 
struggle  between  the  two  foremost  men  at  the  Porte,  there  having 
been  an  irreconcileable  difference  of  opinion  between  the  Grand  Vizier 
and  Midhat  Pasha  with  regard  to  the  constitution  that  had  been 
drawn  up  under  the  direction  of  Midhat. 

On  the  23d  of  December  the  conference  assembled  under  Savfet 
Pasha's  presidency.  Savfet  Pasha,  in  opening  the  proceedings,  spoke 
of  the  liberal  views  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  which,  he  said,  was  ready  to 
grant  its  subjects  all  privileges  that  were  not  contrary  to  the  dignity 
and  integrity  of  the  Empire.  The  conference  first  proceeded  to  verify 
the  full  powers  of  the  Plenipotentiaries.  A  short  time  after  the 
opening  of  the  proceedings  salvoes  of  artillery  were  heard,  and  Savfet 
Pasha  explained  that  the  salutes  announced  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitution,  which  would  eflTect  a  complete  change  in  the  state  of 
Turkey. 

The  new  Constitution  provides  for  the  indivisibility  of  the  Empire 
in  the  first  place,  and  in  the  next  place  affirms  that  the  Sultan  is  the 


426  EFFORTS  I  OR  PEACE. 

Caliph  of  Mussulmans  and  Sovereign  of  all  the  Ottomans.  Islam  is 
the  religion  of  the  state,  but  the  government  is  not  to  be  a  theocracy, 
and  subjects  of  all  religions  and  races  are  to  have  equal  rights.  There 
are  to  be  two  legislative  houses — the  Senate,  to  be  nominated  by  the 
Sultan;  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  to  be  elected  by  ballot  in  the  pro- 
portion of  one  member  to  every  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 
The  members  of  both  Houses  are  to  be  paid,  and  there  is  to  be  a 
dissolution  every  four  years.  Local  government  is  provided  for  by  a 
system  of  municii)al  councils. 

The  second  session  of  the  conference  was  held  on  the  28th,  when  it 
was  resolved  to  prolong  the  armistice  to  March  1st,  after  but  little 
opposition  from  General  Ignatieff.  During  the  subsequent  sittings 
the  conference  was  almost  brought  to  a  dead-lock  by  the  steadfast 
refusal  of  Turkey  to  assent  to  the  joint  resolutions  of  Great  Britain 
and  Russia  and  the  other  foreign  powers.  The  Ministers  of  the  Sultan, 
represented  by  Savfet  Pasha,  objected  to  the  appointment  of  an  Inter- 
national Commission  for  one  year,  to  superintend  the  execution  of  the 
proposed  reforms;  and  they  also  resisted  the  employment  even  of  a 
very  small  number  of  foreign  troops,  either  to  serve  as  a  nucleus  for 
the  creation  of  a  native  armed  police  force,  consistiug  equally  of  Chris- 
tian and  Mussulman  subjects  of  Turkey,  or  to  ser\^e  as  a  body-guard 
for  the  International  Commission  visiting  the  different  provinces  of 
the  Empire.  The  Grand  Council  of  the  Turkish  Empire  assembled  on 
January  18th,  and  in  consequence  of  resolutions  unanimously  taken  by 
them,  the  Sultan's  Government  finally  refused  to  consent  to  the  pro- 
posals of  the  foreign  powers.  So  the  diplomatic  conference  was  broken 
up,  followed  by  the  departure  from  Constantinople  of  all  the  foreign 
Ambassadors,  as  well  as  the  special  envoys  or  Plenipotentiaries  of 
their  respective  governments.  The  Grand  Council  of  the  Porte  was 
composed  of  two  hundred  and  forty  members,  of  whom  fifty-four  were 
Christians.  Among  the  members  present  were  the  Armenian  and 
Roman  Catholic  Patriarchs  and  the  Groat  Rabbi.  In  the  course  of 
his  speech  Midhat  Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier,  referred  to  the  threatened 
departure  of  the  Ambassadors.  Those  of  France  and  England,  he 
said,  had  declared  that  their  governments  would  neither  make  war 
upon  Turkey  nor  lend  her  any  assistance.  Austria  was  neutral,  but 
it  was  to  be  feared  that  she  would  not  be  able  to  resist  the  demands 
of  her   Slavonic  subjects.     Only   one  dissentient  voice,  that  of  the 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 


427 


Discussing  THE  Eastern  Question  at  a  Ministerial  Council,  Constantinople. 

delegate  of  the  Armenian  Protestants,  was  raised,  it  seems,  when  the 
Council  passed  the  resolution  rejecting  the  proposals  of  the  powers. 
At  the  close  of  the  proceedings  a  vote  of  confidence  was  passed  in  the 
government,  and  it  was  authorized  to  continue  the  negotiations,  if 
necessary,  on  the  basis  of  such  proposals  as  were  not  in  conflict  with 
the  Constitution. 

The  final  meeting  of  the  conference  took  place  January  20th.  On 
the  assembling  of  the  Plenipotentiaries  Savfet  Pasha  read  a  note  based 
on  the  decisions  of  the  meeting  of  the  Grand  Council  on  the  previous 
Thursday.  In  this  document  no  notice  was  taken  about  the  appoint- 
ment of  provincial  governors,  while  with  respect  to  the  International 
Commission  the  note  proposed  to  substitute  an  elective  commission,  to 
be  presided  over  by  an  Ottoman  functionary.  All  the  questions 
relating  to  Servia  and  IMontenegro  were  reserved  for  ulterior  decision. 
Lord    Salisbury  thereupon   declared    that  the  conference  must    be 


428  EFFORTS  FOR   PEACE. 

considered  at  an  end,  the  Porte  having  refused  the  two  guarantees 
which  were  demanded  of  it.  General  Ignatieff  sj)oke  to  the  same 
effect,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  Porte  would  not  enter  upon 
further  hostilities  against  Servia  and  Montenegro,  but  would  cause  the 
position  of  its  Christian  subjects  to  be  respected.  The  Russian  Am- 
bassador further  remarked  that  the  members  of  the  conference  had 
received  petitions  from  the  Christians  of  Macedonia,  Thessaly,  Epirus, 
and  Crete,  requesting  the  conference  to  occupy  itself  with  improving 
their  condition.  It  had  not  been  possible  to  take  these  petitions  into 
consideration,  as  the  task  assigned  to  the  conference  was  limited  in  its 
scope ;  but  his  Excellency  was  anxious  to  state  the  fact  at  the  closing 
sitting  of  the  European  Plenipotentiaries. 

After  the  failure  of  the  conference  at  Constantinople,  Prince  Gort- 
chakoff  issued  a  circular,  in  which,  after  reciting  what  had  occurred, 
he  said,  "  It  is  necessary  for  us  to  know  what  the  cabinets,  with  which 
we  have  hitherto  acted  in  common,  propose  to  do,  with  the  view  of 
meeting  this  refusal,  and  insuring  the  execution  of  their  wishes." 

But,  before  any  response  had  been  made  to  this  request  for  informa- 
tion, the  Russian  Government,  lest  it  might  be  embarrassed  if  the 
other  powers  should  not  agree,  prepared  a  protocol,  which  was  signed 
by  the  representatives  of  the  six  great  powers  at  London,  on  the  31st 
of  March,  1877.     It  is  here  subjoined: 

"  The  Powers  who  have  undertaken  in  common  the  pacification  of 
the  East,  and  have  with  that  view  taken  part  in  the  Conference  of 
Constantinople,  recognize  that  the  surest  means  of  attaining  the  object 
which  they  have  proposed  to  themselves  is,  before  all,  to  maintain  the 
agreement  so  happily  established  between  them,  and  jointly  to  affirm 
afresh  the  common  interest  which  they  take  in  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  the  Christian  populations  of  Turkey,  and  in  the  reforms 
to  be  introduced  in  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  and  Bulgaria,  which  the 
Porte  has  accepted  on  condition  of  itself  carrying  them  into  execution. 

They  take  cognizance  of  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  Servia. 

As  regards  Montenegro,  the  Powers  consider  the  rectification  of  the 
frontiers  and  the  free  navigation  of  the  Boiana  to  be  desirable  in  the 
interest  of  a  solid  and  durable  ai-rangement. 

The  Powers  consider  the  arrangements  concluded,  or  to  be  con- 
cluded, between  the  Porte  and  the  two  principalities  as  a  step  accom- 
plished towards  the  pacification  which  is  the  object  of  their  common 
wishes. 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE.  429 

They  invite  the  Porte  to  consolidate  it  by  replacing  its  armies  on  a 
peace  footing,  exce^Dting  the  number  of  troops  indispensable  for  the 
maintenance  of  order,  and  by  putting  in  hand  with  the  least  possible 
delay  the  reforms  necessary  for  the  tranquility  and  Avell-being  of  the 
provinces,  the  condition  of  which  was  discussed  at  the  conference. 
They  recognize  that  the  Porte  has  declared  itself  ready  to  realize  an 
important  portion  of  them. 

They  take  cognizance  specially  of  the  circular  of  the  Porte  of 
February  13,  1876,  and  of  the  declarations  made  by  the  Ottoman 
Government  during  the  conference,  and  since  through  its  represen- 
tatives. 

In  view  of  these  good  intentions  on  the  part  of  the  Porte,  and  of  its 
evident  interest  to  carry  them  immediately  into  effect,  the  Powers 
believe  that  they  have  grounds  for  hoping  that  the  Porte  will  profit 
by  the  present  lull  to  apply  energetically  such  measures  as  will  cause 
that  effective  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  Christian  population 
which  is  unanimously  called  for  as  indispensable  to  the  tranquility  of 
Europe,  and  that,  having  once  entered  on  this  path,  it  will  understand 
that  it  concerns  its  honor  as  well  as  its  interests  to  persevere  in  it 
loyally  and  efficaciously. 

The  powers  propose  to  watch  carefully,  by  means  of  their  Represen- 
tatives at  Constantinople  and  their  local  agents,  the  manner  in  which 
the  promises  of  the  Ottoman  Government  are  carried  into  effect. 

If  their  hopes  should  once  more  be  disappointed,  and  if  the  condition 
of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan  should  not  be  improved  in  a 
manner  to  prevent  the  return  of  the  complications  which  periodically 
disturb  the  peace  of  the  East,  they  think  it  right  to  declare  that  such 
a  state  of  affairs  would  be  incompatible  with  their  interests  and  those 
of  Europe  in  general.  In  such  case,  they  reserv^e  to  themselves  to 
consider  in  common  as  to  the  means  which  they  may  deem  best  fitted 
to  secure  the  well-being  of  the  Christian  populations,  and  the  interests 
of  the  general  peace.' 

On  affixing  his  signature,  the  Russian  Ambassador  filed  the  follow- 
ing declaration . 

"  If  peace  with  Montenegro  is  concluded,  and  the  Porte  accepts  the 
advice  of  Europe,  and  shows  itself  ready  to  replace  its  forces  on  a 
peace-footing,  and  seriously  to  undertake  the  reforms  mentioned  in  the 
protocol,  let  it  send  to  St.  Petersburg  a  special  envoy  to  treat  of  dis- 


430  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

armament,  to  which  his  Majesty  the  Emperor  would  also,  on  his  part, 
consent. 

If  massacres  similar  to  those  which  have  stained  Bulgaria  with 
blood  take  place,  this  would  neccessarily  put  a  stop  to  the  measures  of 
demobilization." 

The  protocol  was  rejected  at  Constantinople  on  the  ground  that  it  in- 
volved the  virtual  abdication  of  sovereignty  by  Turkey  in  its  European 
provinces,  and  a  disrespecful  outside  pressure  for  reforms  which  the 
Porte  professed  itself  willing  to  inaugurate  of  its  own  accord.  On  the 
12th  of  April,  with  mucli  other  matter  of  the  same  sort,  professing 
willingness  to  reform  but  demanding  to  be  allowed  to  do  it  in  its  own 
way,  the  Porte  wrote  as  follows : 

"  Turkey  cannot  allow  foreign  agents  or  representatives,  charged  to 
protect  the  interests  of  their  compatriots,  to  have  any  mission  of  official 
supervision.  The  Imperial  Government,  in  fact,  is  not  aware  how  it 
can  have  deserved  so  ill  of  justice  and  civilization  as  to  see  itself 
placed  in  a  humiliating  position  without  example  in  the  world.  The 
Treaty  of  Paris  gave  an  explicit  sanction  to  the  principle  of  non-inter- 
vention. This  treaty,  which  binds  together  the  powers  who  participated 
in  it,  as  well  as  Turkey,  cannot  be  abolished  by  a  protocol  in  which 
Turkey  has  had  no  share ;  and,  if  Turkey  appeals  to  the  stipulations 
of  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  it  is  not  that  that  treaty  has  created  in  her 
favor  any  rights  which  she  would  not  possess  without  it,  but  rather 
for  the  purpose  of  calling  attention  to  grave  reasons,  which,  in  interest 
of  the  general  peace  in  Europe,  induced  the  powers  twenty  years  ago 
to  place  the  recognition  of  the  inviolability  of  this  empire's  right  to 
sovereignty  under  guarantee  of  collective  promise." 

In  the  meantime  a  ministerial  crisis  had  taken  place  at  Constanti- 
nople, by  the  sudden  fall  of  Midhat  Pasha,  the  Grand  Vizier  and 
Prime  Minister  of  the  Sultan,  who  so  recently  had  managed  to  hold 
his  Government  in  an  attitude  of  firm  opposition  to  the  European 
Powers,  and  who  had  contrived  the  plausible  scheme  of  constitutional 
reforms  for  the  Turkish  Empire.  He  was  not  only  dismissed  from 
office,  but  signally  disgraced  and  sent  into  exile  without  an  hour's 
delay.  This  astonishing  transaction  was  performed  by  the  mere  act 
of  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid  personally,  as  absolute  ruler  of  Turkey.  It 
took  place  on  tlic  5th  of  February,  when  Midhat  Pasha  was  sent  for, 
and  the  Imperial  order  banishing  this  Minister  from  Turkish  territory 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 


431 


:\~ 


iiiiiiiHitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimii 


432  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

was  read  to  him  immediately  on  his  arrival  at  the  palace.  The  Porte 
sent  a  despatch  to  its  Ambassadors  abroad  declaring  that  Midhat 
Pasha  was  exiled  because  his  conduct  had  been  of  a  nature  to  shake 
the  confidence  reposed  in  him.  It  was  added,  however,  that  this 
event  Avould  not  change  the  policy  of  the  Government,  and  that  it  was 
the  Sultan's  desire  that  the  Constitution  should  be  carried  out. 

After  being  informed  of  his  dismissal  from  office,  Midhat  Pasha 
was  at  once  sent  on  board  the  Imperial  yacht  Izzedin,  which  imme- 
diately started  for  the  Mediterranean,  in  order  to  convey  him  out  of 
Turkish  territory. 

As  to  the  cause  of  Midhat  Pasha's  sudden  downfall,  it  seems  most 
probable  that  the  Sultan  became  alarmed  on  account  of  two  circum- 
stances which  appeared  to  him  calculated  to  endanger  his  position. 
First,  the  indiscretion  of  several  of  Midhat  Pasha's  followers;  secondly, 
the  vast  changes  which  the  development  of  the  new  Constitution 
involved — curtailing,  as  they  did,  his  Majesty's  power  and  patronage, 
and  placing  official  posts  in  the  hands  of  the  reformers,  thereby 
bringing  about  dismissals  in  every  direction,  and  the  consequent 
discontent  of  many  Palace  favorites,  naturally  loth  to  give  up  their 
appointments.  Quite  unused  to  such  demands  on,  the  part  of  a  Min- 
ister, the  Sultan  became  frightened,  and  imagined  that  the  whole  of 
these  innovations  were  simply  the  visible  progress  of  a  great  plot  to 
deprive  him  of  his  authority.  Meanwhile  Midhat  Pasha's  enemies 
Eaisreprescnted  and  exaggerated  all  he  said  and  did,  urging  the  Sultan 
to  adojDt  extreme  measures  immediately,  in  order  to  save  his  throne. 
In  a  Aveak  moment  his  Majesty  consented  to  interfere. 

About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  February  5th  the  news 
was  spread  that  Midhat  Pasha  had  been  summoned  to  the  presence  of 
the  Sultan  by  a  hasty  message.  The  next  thing  which  betokened  the 
astounding  change  impending  in  the  Government  was  the  sound  of 
trumpets  heard  from  a  column  of  troops  crossing  the  bridge  of  boats 
over  the  Golden  Horn  to  take  possession  of  the  streets  leading  to  the 
Offices  of  State.  This  armed  body  marched  into  the  cnciente  and 
proceeded  to  occujiy  and  line  the  staircase  leading  to  the  apartment 
of  the  Grand  Vizier.  Very  shortly  an  enormous  crowd  collected  upon 
the  spot,  made  up  of  Turkish  officers,  townsmen,  European  idlers,  and 
others,  among  whom  the  rumor  was  current  that  a  new  Vizier  had 
been  appointed.     The  Audience  Eoom,  meantime,  at  the  top  of  the 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE.  433 

Staircase,  was  filled  with  pashas,  beys,  and  effendis,  all  engaged  in 
animated  conversation,  discussing  the  reasons  for  the  extraordinary- 
course  which  events  had  taken.  Outside,  the  equally  excited  crowd 
was  kept  in  order  by  the  fixed  bayonets  of  the  troops.  The  band 
stationed  in  the  great  square  presently  struck  up  the  Turkish  National 
Anthem,  at  the  first  notes  of  which  the  people  cheered  loudly.  The 
officials  inside  immediately  crowded  to  the  windows,  anxious  to  dis- 
cover, by  his  approach,  who  the  new  Prime  Minister  was  to  be.  The 
emotion  at  this  moment  was  remarkable.  Ulema,  generals,  diploma- 
tists, secretaries,  were  all  mingled  with  the  common  crowd,  waiting  to 
learn,  by  eyesight,  the  unknown  personage  that  was  to  replace  the 
great  Reformer.  At  this  moment,  through  a  passage  formed  by  the 
military  and  police,  Edhem  Pasha  made  his  appearance,  thereby 
announcing  himself  as  Grand  Vizier.  He  was  closely  followed  by  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam,  wearing  the  gold  turban  of  his  office,  and  by  the  Sul- 
tan's Secretary  having  the  ribbon  of  the  Medjidie.  Edhem  Pasha  was 
in  full  dress,  with  gold-braided  coat  and  all  his  orders  and  insignia. 
Directly  he  had  entered  the  building,  the  Imperial  Hatt  confirming 
his  nomination  was  presented  to  him,  and  the  Secretary  read  in  a  loud 
voice  the  terms  of  the  Sultan's  decree. 

The  appointment  of  Edhem  Pasha  to  be  Grand  Vizier  was  followed 
by  further  changes  in  the  Turkish  Ministry.  Kadri  Bey  was  made 
a  Pasha  and  appointed  President  of  the  Council ;  Djevdet  Pasha,  who 
was  Minister  of  Justice,  became  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  his  former 
post  was  filled  by  Hassim  Pasha,  hitherto  Governor  of  Adrianople. 
Odian  EfTendi,  who  had  gone  to  London  on  a  mission  concerning  the 
bondholders,  was  recalled  to  Constantinople.  Sadyk  Pasha  was  recalled 
from  the  embassy  at  Paris  to  be  Governor  of  the  Villayet  of  the 
Danube. 

Peace  negotiations  between  Servia  and  Turkey  concluded  on  the 
20th  of  February.  At  the  beginning  of  the  negotiations  the  attitude 
of  the  Porte  may  be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows.  The  Sultan  was 
ready  to  come  to  an  amicable  settlement  upon  the  basis  of  the  status 
quo  ante  helium,  but  demanded  the  right  to  send  an  agent  to  reside  at 
Belgrade. 

The  Turkish  Government  looked  upon  this  proceeding  as  a  mark  of 
consideration  rather  than  distrust,  especially  as  Roumania  had  lately 
attempted,  unsuccessfully,  to  obtain  a  similar  privilege  with  respect  to 
28 


434  EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 

herself.  This,  however,  the  Porte  refused  on  the  ground  that  Prince 
Charles,  being  one  of  Turkey's  vassals,  he  was  himself  the  Ottoman 
agent  for  all  purposes,  and  that  it  would  be,  therefore,  superfluous  to 
appoint  a  second.  As  Russia  maintained  an  official  at  Belgrade,  the 
Sultan  was  anxious  to  be  equally  represented  in  that  city.  It  was 
further  pointed  out  by  the  Porte  that,  if  the  object  of  sending  a 
Turkish  representative  was  merely  that  he  should  act  as  a  spy,  such 
a  determination  could  be  better  carried  out  by  secret  agency.  A 
recognized  agent  might,  besides,  prove  useful  in  many  ways  to  Servia, 
and  the  Sultan's  Government  expressly  declared  that  such  an  official 
would  in  no  way  interfere  in  matters  of  internal  administration. 
Prince  Milan  was  morally  bound  to  make  such  a  concession  in  recog- 
nition of  the  readiness  of  Turkey  to  forget  the  past.  Touching  the 
question  of  religious  liberty  in  Servia,  the  Porte  was  simply  desirous  of 
recording  its  protest  in  favor  of  toleration,  but  would  not  insist  if  its 
views  on  the  matter  met  with  opposition. 

At  a  subsequent  conference,  Turkey  decided  to  waive  her  demand 
for  the  maintenance  of  an  agent  at  Belgrade,  but  required  that  the 
treaty  should  contain  a  definition  of  the  status  quo  ante  bellum,  because 
she  held  that  the  position  of  Servia  before  hostilities  broke  out  Avas 
simply  one  of  overt  insurrection. 

The  agreement  for  a  treaty  of  j^eace  was  signed  on  the  28th.  It 
consisted  of  three  points — namely,  the  maintenance  of  the  statm  quo 
ante  helium,  the  granting  of  an  amnesty  and  the  evacuation  of  Servian 
territory  twelve  days  after  peace  was  signed. 

On  the  day  wlien  the  final  act,  namely,  that  of  signing  the  protocol, 
took  place,  the  Servian  delegates  evinced  the  greatest  pleasure  and 
the  liveliest  gratitude  to  the  Turks.  The  scene  took  place  at  Savfet 
Pasha's  house ;  the  documents  were  there  when  the  delegates  entered 
and  after  mutual  congratulations  pens  were  produced.  Savfet  Pasha, 
by  right  of  precedence,  first  went  to  the  table,  and  as  he  did  so  M, 
Martics  cried  out  in  Servian,  "  Happiness  to  your  Excellency  !  Con- 
gratulations on  the  good  work  you  have  achieved!  May  God  bless 
you !"  Without  a  word  Savfet  Pasha  signed,  and  then,  turning  to  M. 
Christies  and  his  colleague,  the  Servian  representatives,  said,  "  And  I, 
too,  tliank  you  for  your  work,  and  felicitate  you  also."  MM.  Christies 
and  ]\Iartics  then  appended  their  signatures  to  the  document,  and 
peace  was  concluded.     Peace — after  twenty  thousand   Servians   and 


EFFORTS  FOR  PEACE. 


435 


Kussians  had  bit  the  dust — was  thus  restored  to  the  valleys  and  hills 
of  Servia,  Never  was  sword  drawn  more  uselessly  or  sheathed  more 
readily — a  lesson  to  all  who  heedlessly  or  recklessly  cause  strife  and 
bloodshed. 


436  THE  NEW  PARLIAMENT. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  FEW  PARLIAMENT. 

On  Monday,  the  19tli  of  March,  in  the  grand  audience  hall  of  the 
prettiest  palace  in  Europe,  an  event  of  strange  import  for  future 
historians  came  to  pass,  the  first  Parliament  under  the  new  Constitution 
of  the  Turkish  Empire  having  been  opened  by  the  Sultan  in  person. 
The  spectacle  was  one  of  much  magnificence,  nor  can  we  more  than 
very  imperfectly  indicate,  within  the  compass  of  a  chapter,  the  many 
points  of  notice  in  this  novel  and  striking  scene.  Of  the  Dolma- 
Baghtche  Palace,  in  which  the  ceremony  was  held,  a  few  preliminary 
words  may  be  said.  "We  have  called  it  the  prettiest  palace  in  Europe, 
not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  an  architectural  purist  or  precisian 
would  account  it  the  most  incongruous.  It  would  be  difficult,  indeed, 
from  mere  technical  description,  for  any  person  of  artistic  taste  to 
believe  that  a  building  so  defiant  of  all  the  proprieties  of  art  should  be 
so  preeminently  picturesque.  This  marble  eccentricity  on  the  beautiful 
shore  of  the  Bosphorus  is  a  mixture  of  Byzantine  and  classic  Greek; 
but  the  pure  white  edifice,  and  its  Corinthian  columns,  elbowing 
kiosques,  pavilions,  minarets,  together  with  other  forms  of  Oriental 
architecture  out  of  number,  give  to  the  outside  appearance  presented 
by  the  Dolma-Bagbtche  a  charming  though  an  odd  aspect.  The 
name,  being  interpreted,  signifies  Bean  Garden. 

The  place  has  had  already  some  curious  memories,  and  there  were 
some  within  who  knew  all  about  its  history.  It  was  amongst  the  first 
of  Turkish  extravagances— if,  indeed,  the  building  of  what  is  really  a 
very  pretty,  useful,  and  convenient  residence  for  the  monarch  can  be 
go  termed  at  all.  It  is  said  that  most  of  it  was  paid  for  with  notes  of 
of  the  very  first  paper  money  which  the  Turkish  mint  ever  issued. 
"It's  a  pretty  place,"  remarked  Abdul  Medjid,  as  he  gazed  at  the 
work  of  his  hands,  and  enjoyed  a  chibouk  full  of  the  very  choicest 
tobacco;  "a  very  pretty  place.  And  how  much  has  it  cost  us?"  quoth 
he,  addressing  Reschid  Pasha,  that  famous  Grand  Vizier  of  those 
halcyon  days.  "Only  the  price  of  two  reams  of  paper,  O  Commander 
of  the  Faithful,"  was  the  Minister's  reply — at  least,  so  it  is  said — and 


THE  NEW  PARLIAMENT.  437 

it  is  easy  to  imagine  how  his  quiet  face  must  have  lighted  up  with  the 
gentlest  of  smiles.  "Only  two  reams  of  paper!" — it  was  a  noble 
palace  to  cost  so  little  and  to  be  worth  so  much.  Standing  on  the 
very  prettiest  part  of  the  Bosphorus  shore,  what  sights  it  had  wit- 
nessed, what  memories  belonged  to  it!  Since  first- it  was  built,  the 
whole  history  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  has  been  changed.  The  Am- 
bassadors who  used  to  assemble  in  this  place  at  the  bidding  of  the 
Sultans  have  gone  away;  and  the  Sultans  who  were  wont  to  give 
audiences  here  have  been  forcibly  removed  from  the  throne  at  yonder 
end  of  the  hall;  one  has  been  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  the  other  is 
regarded  as  mad.  Now  in  the  same  hall  the  latest  Sultan  was  about 
to  inaugurate  an  experiment  which  might  prove  of  lasting  benefit  to 
his  nation  and  a  continual  source  of  strength  to  his  dynasty,  or  might 
some  day  result  in  a  clean  sweep  of  the  entire  fabric  of  State.  The 
nomad  race  which  some  six  hundred  years  ago  entered  Thrace  and 
was  routed  in  the  Chersouesus,  but  which  eventually  swarmed  victori- 
ously across  the  Hellespont  and  settled  upon  the  fair  lands  of  the 
Byzantine  Empire,  was  about  to  lay  aside  its  character  of  victor  and 
borrow  from  the  Christian  a  Constitutional  Parliament. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  palace  was  already  full  of  dignitaries  and 
officials  of  rank.  Pashas  in  gold  lace  were  wandering  about  its 
corridors  by  the  dozen;  there  were  generals  enough  to  have  com- 
manded a  whole  army ;  aides-de-camp  flitted  hither  and  thither,  and 
as  for  officials  from  the  Porte  they  were  present  by  the  score.  The 
scene  was  one  of  which  a  photograph  ought  to  have  been  taken  every 
moment.  You  entered  Said  Pasha's  room,  and  before  you  could  light 
your  cigarette  you  were  in  presence  not  only  of  the  Minister  of 
Marine  and  Mahmoud  Pasha,  the  Sultan's  brother-in-law,  but  of  the 
Minister  of  War  and  the  Grand  Vizier  himself.  Time  was  when  for 
the  Giaour  thus  to  come  upon  the  alter  ego  of  the  Caliph  would  have 
been  a  most  solemn  business.  History  says  nothing  about  what  the 
Vizier  of  Scanderbeg  was  wont  to  do  with  the  Christians,  but  we 
fancy  it  was  not  always  well  for  the  unbeliever  to  be  near  him  as  he 
rolled  his  cigarette.  Then,  if  one  strolled  into  the  corridors,  there 
were  dignitaries  on  every  side:  Nedjib  Pasha,  just  arrived  from  Alex- 
inatz,  bronzed  and  baked  in  the  war  with  Servia;  Abdul  Kerim,  his 
chieftain,  looking  fit  and  quite  ready  for  another  struggle,  if  need  be; 
Assim  Pasha,  the  quiet,  serious  Minister  of  Justice,  ablaze  with  gold 


488 


THE  NEW  PARLIAMENT. 


An  Egyptian  Pasha  on  his  Divan. 


THE  NEW  PARLIAMENT.  439 

lace;  and  Djerdet  Pasha,  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  running  hither 
and  thither,  as  though  being  virtual  ruler  of  inland  Turkey  were  a 
slight  burden.  There  were  all  whom  the  Sultan  delights  to  honor  in 
those  passages  and  pathways — pashas,  beys,  and  effendis — rubbing 
shoulders  as  they  good-humoredly  sought  to  prepare  for  the  spectacle 
which  was  to  follow.  Close  by  was  the  great  ante-room  of  the  Palace. 
Through  this  must  all  pass  who  would  attend  the  ceremony.  Ulema, 
some  of  them  bearing  the  riband  of  the  Medjidie,  and  all  of  them 
wearing  the  green  embroidered  cloak  of  their  order,  the  golden  turban, 
and  the  fez,  passed  by  frequently.  Generals  of  division  were  making 
additions  to  the  assemblage  every  minute;  pashas  were  congregating 
around  the  central  fire-place ;  beys  were  grouping  themselves  near  the 
door.  There  could  not  have  been  more  activity  and  excitement  had 
Mohammed  himself  been  coming;  more  brilliant  dresses  could  not 
have  been  worn  had  the  Prophet  commanded  a  State  levee. 

Inside  the  hall  stand  some  nine  hundred  personages,  ranged  in 
careful  order,  almost  all  brilliant  with  golden  lace  and  stars  of  silver 
or  precious  stones.  They  form  three  sides  of  a  square,  their  heads  are 
bent  as  they  listen  with  apparent  eagerness  to  hear  what  a  little 
gentleman  in  an  embroidered  coat  is  reading  from  a  document  which 
bears  a  great  seal  of  gold.  While  they  thus  attend,  at  the  fourth  side 
of  the  square,  in  front  of  a  golden  couch  or  spacious  throne,  stands  a 
young  man,  clad  very  simply  in  fez  and  military  overcoat,  leaning  on 
his  sword.  As  your  eyes  run  arcund  the  room  you  observe  that  the 
costumes  are  as  varied  as  are  the  faces;  that  ancient  men,  clad  in  long 
robes  of  green  and  gold,  and  their  heads  covered  with  golden  turbans, 
stand  close  by  others  in  European  costume,  wearing  only  the  fez;  that 
in  one  corner  are  what  must  without  doubt  be  members  of  the  Diplo- 
matic Corps;  that  in  front  of  the  pale  gentleman,  who  remains  alone, 
are  some  three  hundred  grave  and  reverend  personages,  grouped  in 
two  sections;  and  that  all  around  are  soldiers,  officers  of  State,  and 
personages  of  distinction.  The  audience  is  composed  of  the  grandees 
of  the  Turkish  Empire ;  he  who  stands  in  front  of  the  golden  couch  is 
the  Caliph  of  all  the  Ottomans,  the  two  groups  of  listeners  are 
respectively  the  newly-created  Senate  and  Corps  Legislatif  of  Turkey, 
and  the  document  which  you  are  hearing  is  the  Imperial  speech.  A 
few  minutes,  and  those  three  hundred  gentlemen  will  constitute  the 
governing  power  of  the  Empire,  which  Mohammed,  son  of  Bajazet, 
founded. 


440  THE  NEW  PARLIAMENT. 

The  Master  of  the  ceremonies  proceeded  to  inform  the  Sultan  that 
all  was  ready;  and  immediately  his  Imperial  Majesty  entered  the 
hall,  wearing  over  his  military  coat  the  riband  of  the  Osmaulie  and 
Star  of  the  Medjidie,  and  carrying  his  State  sword.  After  a  general 
salute,  the  Sultan  handed  the  Speech  to  the  Grand  Vizier,  who  kissed 
the  paper  and  transferred  it  to  the  Sultan's  secretary,  Said  Pasha. 
This  official  then  made  a  profound  salute,  and  amid  the  deepest  silence, 
read  the  Speech  aloud. 

The  speech  dealt  with  the  historical  efforts  of  Turkey,  declared  most 
of  her  erabarrasments  to  have  been  due  to  intrigues  which  fomented 
disturbance  in  her  interior,  and  attributed   the  financial  difficulties 
under  which  she  labored  to  these  and   to  the  necessity  involved  for 
keeping  up  large  armies.     The  most  important  part  of  the  document 
was  that  which   referred   to   the   condition  of  Turkey's   exchequer, 
Abdul  Aziz's  Government  being  spoken  of  as  a  regime  which  did  not 
attach  due  importance  to  financial  equilibrium;  while  the  conduct  of 
the  rulers  who  had  thus  failed  was  further  condemned  in  that,  instead 
of  seeking  by  safeguarding  the  engagements  of  the  Treasury  to  meet 
their  requirements,  they  had  arbitrarily  reduced  the  interest  of  the 
debts  as  the  best  way  of  escaping  from  their  difficulties.     Then  the 
Sultan  talked  of  peace,  announced  its  conclusion  with  Servia,  and 
expressed  hopes  of  an  arrangement  with  Montenegro ;  enumerated  the 
laws  which  he  believed  necessary  for  the  good  of  the  country ;  announced 
the  foundation  of  a  school  in  which  administrative  duties  could  be 
taught;  thanked  the  army  for  what  it  had  done  in  days  gone  by,  and 
referred   to   the  failure  of'the  Conference,  adding  that  Turkey,  ly 
"giving  proof  of  moderation  and  sincerity,  had  bound  together  more 
strongly  than  ever  the  ties  of  sympathy  which  united  her  to  the  great 
European  family."     "With  this  quiet  announcement  the  speech  closed. 
Then  came  salutes,  to  which  the  Sultan  replied  very  graciously,  bowing 
to  the  Assembly,  and  so  departed,  his  leaving  being  the  signal   for 
a  shout  on  the  part  of  the  heralds,  followed  immediately  afterwards  by 
heavy  salvoes  of  artillery  upon  the  Bosphorus.     The  first  Turkish 
Parliament  was  opened,  and  amid  many  congratulations  the  Assembly 
broke  up  and  went  aw«.y. 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  441 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

HOSTILITIES  Begun. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1877,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  promulgated  his 
declaration  of  war,  as  follows : 

"  Our  faithful  aud  beloved  subjects  know  the  strong  interest  which 
we  have  constantly  felt  in  the  destinies  of  the  oppressed  Christian 
population  of  Turkey.     Our  desire  to  ameliorate  and  assure  their  lot 
has  been  shared  by  the  whole  Russian  nation,  which  now  shows  itself 
ready  to  bear  fresh  sacrifices  to  alleviate  the  position  of  the  Christians 
in  the  Balkan  peninsula.     The  blood  and  the  property  of  our  faithful 
subjects  have  always  been  dear   to   us,  and   our  whole  reign  attests 
our  constant  solicitude  to  preserve  to  Russia  the  benefits  of  peace. 
This  solicitude  never  failed  to  actuate  us  during  the  deplorable  events 
which  occurred  in  Herzegovina,   Bosnia,  and  Bulgaria.     Our  objects 
before  all,  was  to  effect  an  amelioration  in  the  position  of  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  East  by  means  of  pacific  negotiations,  and  in  concert  with 
the  Great  European  Powers,  our  allies  and  friends.     For  two  years 
we  have  made  incessant  eflTorts  to  induce  the  Porte  to  effect  such 
reforms  as  would  protect  the  Christians  of  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  and 
Bulgaria  from  the  arbitrary  measures  of  the  local  authorities.     The 
accomplishment  of  these  reforms  was  absolutely  stipulated  by  anterior 
engagements  contracted  by  the  Porte  towards  the  whole  of  Europe. 
Our    efforts   supported    by  the  diplomatic  representations    made   in 
common  by  the  other  Governments  have  not,  however,  attained  their 
object.     The  Porte  remained  unshaken  in  its  formal  refusal  of  any 
effective   guarantee   for   the   security  of  its   Christian   subjects,  and 
rejected  the  conclusions  of  the  Constantinople  Conference.     Wishing 
to  essay  every   possible  means  of  conciliation   in  order  to  persuade 
the  Porte,  we  proposed  to  the  other  Cabinets  to  draw  up  a  special 
Protocol  comprising  the  most  essential  conditions  of  the  Constantinople 
Conference,  and  to  invite  the  Turkish  Government  to  adhere  to  this 
international   act,  which   states   the   extreme   limits  of  our  peaceful 
demands.     But  our  expectation  was  not  fulfilled.     The  Porte  did  not 
defer  to   this  unanimous  wish   of   Christian   Europe,   and   did   not 


442 


HOSTILITIES  begun: 


Mehemet  Ali,  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Turkish  Army  in  Bulgaria, 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  443 

adhere  to  the  conclusions  of  the  Protocol.  Having  exhausted  our 
pacific  eflforts,  we  are  compelled,  by  the  haughty  obstinacy  of  the 
Porte,  to  proceed  to  more  decisive  acts.  A  feeling  of  equity,  and  of 
our  own  dignity,  enjoins  it.  By  her  refusal  Turkey  places  us  under 
the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  arms.  Profoundly  convinced  of 
the  justice  of  our  case,  and  humbly  committing  ourselves  to  the  gi'ace 
and  help  of  the  Most  High,  we  make  known  to  our  faithful  subjects, 
that  the  moment  foreseen  when  we  pronounced  words  to  which  all 
Russia  responded  with  such  complete  unanimity,  has  now  arrived.  We 
expressed  the  intention  to  act  independently  when  we  deem  it  necessary, 
and  when  Russia's  honor  should  demand  it.  In  now  invoking  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  our  valiant  armies,  we  give  them  the  order  to 
cross  the  Turkish  frontier." 

Two  days  later  the  Sultan  issued  an  address  to  the  Ottoman  troops, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  his  declaration  of  war,  or  his  reply  to  that 
of  the  Czar.  After  laying  the  responsibility  for  the  present  unjust 
and  unnecessary  war  upon  the  Russian  Government,  and  expressing 
his  humble  reliance  upon  the  favor  of  God,  the  Sultan's  address  con- 
tinues thus: 

"  Our  enemy,  having  for  his  objects  the  annihilation  of  our  national 
rights,  the  overthrow  of  our  independence  and  the  ruin  of  our  country, 
has  now  made  it  plain  to  the  world  that  nothing  could  ever  have 
satisfied  his  demands  upon  us  short  of  the  surrender  of  these.  Such  is 
the  true  feason  why,  without  any  moral  justification  or  lawful  cause, 
he  has  put  his  forces  in  motion  to  attack  us.  We  cherish,  however, 
the  firm  conviction  that  He  who  is  the  Judge  above  all  judges,  and 
the  protector  of  right  and  justice,  will  vouchsafe  to  our  arms  victory 
and  salvation."  His  Imperial  INIajesty  proceeded  to  declare  his  proud 
reliance  in  the  courage  of  his  soldiers  and  sailors,  as  well  as  in  their 
devotion  to  duty,  and  concluded  by  saying,  "  Let  my  valiant  troops 
and  crews  be  assured  that  the  heart  of  their  Padishah  is  with  them  in 
all  dangers  and  glories.  If  need  shall  arise,  he  will  himself  take  in 
hand  the  holy  banner  of  the  Caliphate  and  the  Sultanate,  and  hasten 
to  place  himself  in  their  ranks.  He  expects  of  them  not  less  than 
what  he  is  willing  to  do  in  person,  being  ready  to  lay  down  his  life  in 
their  midst  for  the  maintenance  of  Ottoman  rights,  for  the  honor  of 
the  Ottoman  name,  and  for  the  independence  of  the  common  country." 

On  the  same  day  that  war  was  declared  against  Turkey,  fifty  thou- 


444  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

sand  Russians  crossed  the  Russian  Rubicon,  tlie  Pruth;  and  tte 
Russo-Turkish  war  of  1877  was  begun.  The  army  was  so  distributed 
that  it  might  use  all  the  roads  leading  from  Russian  Bessarabia  to  the 
main  passages  of  the  Pruth,  from  which  alone  roads  fit  for  the  march 
of  armies  lead  into  the  heart  of  Roumania,  and  that  it  might  advance 
directly  upon  the  Danube  east  of  the  Pruth,  and  thence,  by  the  shortest 
possible  route,  seize  the  railway  where  it  runs  along  the  bank  of  the 
Danube  from  near  Galatz  to  Ibraila.  Accordingly,  before  the  advance 
across  the  frontier,  the  troops  cantoned  in  the  Bessarabian  villages 
were  gradually  drawn  together  into  three  bodies,  the  right  wing  being 
advanced  to  the  frontier  nearly  opposite  Jassy,  the  centre  to  the 
frontier  opposite  Leowa,  and  the  left  to  the  frontier  opposite  Bolgrad. 

The  right  wing  was  stationed  in  a  hilly,  broken  country,  and 
directly  supplied  by  the  railway  running  through  Kischeneff  into  the 
interior  and  to  Odessa.  The  Pruth,  at  this  time  of  the  year  a  wide, 
swollen  stream,  with  marshes  on  the  Roumanian  bank,  alone  separated 
it  from  Roumania,  Skiijany,  where  the  extreme  right  of  the  Russian 
army  crossed  by  the  bridge  that  carries  the  road,  is  distant  about 
twelve  miles  from  Ungeni,  where  the  railway  bridge  spans  the  river. 
By  these  two  bridges  the  right  wing  crossed  the  frontier  and  advanced 
upon  Jassay,  the  old  capital  of  Moldavia,  a  straggling  town  of  some 
seventy  thousand  inhabitants,  sending  on  a  detachment  at  once  by  rail 
to  the  junction  at  Paschkany. 

The  centre  column  of  the  Russian  army  crossing  the  frontier  at 
Beschtamak,  on  the  road  leading  from  the  Russian  town  of  Bender, 
advanced  on  Leowa,  about  fi^en  miles,  and  there  crossed  the  Pruth. 
For,  since  the  treaty  of  1857,  the  Russian  frontier  has  been  thrust 
back  fi'ora  the  Pruth,  the  divergence  commencing  at  a  point  about 
thirty  miles  south  of  the  railway  bridge  at  Ungeni. 

The  third  column,  or  left  wing,  crossed  the  frontier  at  the  point 
opposite  Bolgrad,  where  the  boundary  line  bends  due  east,  and  at 
other  points  still  more  to  the  eastward.  Several  roads  lead  from  the 
frontier  to  the  lower  Danube  in  tliis  part  of  Roumania,  and  detach- 
ments advanced  direct  upon  Kilia,  which  is  only  twenty-five  miles 
from  the  Russian  frontier,  on  Ismailia,  about  thirty-five  miles,  and  on 
Reni  about  forty  miles.  From  Reni  troops  were  at  once  despatched 
to  Galatz  and  to  Ibraila,  and  the  railway  bridge  oyer  the  Sereth  was 
seized  and  defended  by  artillery. 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 


445 


Departure  of  Midhat  Pasha  for  Brindisi,  in  Exile. 

The  position  after  the  advance,  may  be  thus  summed  up.  The 
Russian  left  occupied  all  the  points  of  passage  on  the  Danube  at  and 
below  Ibraila,  and  while  it  held  these  and  secured  the  railway  between 
Galatz  and  Ibraila,  the  Russian  centre  and  right  wheeled  round  south- 
ward, this  left  wing  being  as  it  were  their  pivot.  It  was  of  the  utmost 
strategical  importance  to  Russia  to  hold  securely  these  passages  of  the 
Danube  from  the  Dobrudscha,  because  any  passage  of  the  river  by  the 
Turks  here  would  have  enabled  them  to  operate  upon  the  flank  of  the 
Russian  columns  descending  from  Jassay  and  Leowa;  and  this  fact, 
added  to  the  necessity  of  securing  the  railway,  fully  accounts  for  the 
immediate  occupation  of  the  points  from  Ibraila  eastward. 

"While  the  Russian  forces  were  successively  occupying  the  Roumanian 
towns,  and  preparing  to  cross  the  Danube,  Hobart  Pasha,  the  Admiral 
in  command  of  the  Turkish  fleet,  entered  the  Danube  on  board  a  little 
vessel  named  the  Rethymo,  for  the  purpose  of  placing  ironclads  in  such 
a  position  that  they  might  be  of  assistance  in  opposing  the  passage  of 
the  river  by  the  Russians.    While  his  vessel  was  lying  near  Rustchuk 


446  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

the  Muscovite  forces  appeared  at  Galata  and  Ibraila,  threw  up  great 
batteries  and  armed  them  with  guns,  and  were  engaged  in  putting 
down  torpedoes  to  prevent  the  exit  of  the  English  chieftain.  There 
were  many  reasons  to  be  anxious,  for  had  Hobart  Pasha's  vessel  been 
an  ironclad  and  well  armed  it  might  have  been  useful,  even  if  left  at 
Silistria;  whereas,  being  only  a  Avooden  vessel,  armed  with  one  forty- 
pounder  Armstrong  gun,  his  stay  in  the  river  would  have  been  almost 
certain  capture.  "  What  will  he  do?"  was  the  question  asked  over 
and  over  again.  Would  he  run  the  blockade,  or  Avould  he  simply 
confess  the  batteries  and  the  torpedoes  to  be  too  much  for  him,  and, 
quitting  his  ship,  come  down  to  Varna  by  rail?  Those  who  knew  him 
best  declared  he  would  try  to  escape — ship,  men,  Pasha,  and  all.  Nor 
was  this  view  altogether  without  warrant ;  for,  though  the  passage  was 
dangerous  and  the  risk  great,  it  was  very  fair  to  suppose  that  a  man 
of  Hobart's  calibre  would  make  an  attempt  to  be  free,  and  Avould,  if 
necessary,  die  in  that  attempt.  How  right  the  supposition  was  let  us 
tell.  The  Danube  is  not  a  wide,  and  yet  it  is  not  a  narrow  stream. 
There  are  places  where  one  might  almost  easily  escape  the  shots  from 
a  very  good  piece  of  artillery  fired  from  the  banks;  there  are  other 
places,  again,  which  to  pass  where  guns  are  pointed  at  you  is  almost 
certain  destruction.  Such  a  place  is  the  ground  between  Galatz  and 
Braila.  Yet  against  all  this  was  the  great  fact  that  the  stream  was 
swift,  that  the  speed  of  the  vessel  was  great,  and  that,  lastly,  the  boat 
was  commanded  by  a  man  who  had  never  been  caught  in  a  trap 
before. 

Night  approaching,  he  made  everything  ready  for  running  into  the 
Black  Sea  in  defiance  of  all  Russian  hostile  intentions,  getting  clear 
fires  under  the  boilers  of  his  craft,  in  order  to  avoid  smoke  from 
her  funnel,  and  making  other  arrangements.  The  Eethymo,  be  it 
said,  is  a  very  fast  boat,  capable  of  steaming  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  knots 
an  hour. 

When  Hobart  Pasha  started  on  his  daring  exploit,  the  Danube 
current  was  running  swiftly,  being  estimated  at  fully  five  knots  an 
hour.  Upon  nearing  Galatz  he  found  that  heavil3^-armed  Russian 
batteries  commanded  the  river,  looking  capable  of  sinking  anything 
afloat,  besides  the  torpedoes  reported  to  be  hidden  beneath  the  waters. 

Immediately  it  was  dark,  the  word  was  passed,  "  Lights  out,"  and 
the  steamer  sped  rapidly  along.     The  batteries  were  soon  reached,  and 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  447 

the  Russian  lanterns,  the  heavy  guns,  and  soldiers  in  great  numbers 
were  clearly  visible  to  those  who  manned  the  saucy  Rethymo,  when 
suddenly  a  rocket  was  sent  up  from  the  Roumanian  shore  to  apprize 
the  Muscovite  gunners  of  Hobart  Pasha's  coming.  Other  rockets 
followed  in  quick  succession,  then  the  hoarse  word  of  command  was 
distinctly  heard,  bugles  sounded,  and  the  drums  beat  merrily,  sum- 
moning the  Russians  to  their  posts. 

Hobart  Pasha  expected  every  moment  to  be  blown  out  of  the  water 
by  the  fire  of  the  heavy  guns  he  was  treating  so  cavalierly;  but  being 
determined  to  make  efforts  in  some  degree  proportionate  to  the  great 
risk  he  was  facing,  he  ran  his  vessel  close  in  shore,  not  forty  metres 
from  the  batteries  themselves — indeed  so  near  that  the  Russian  gun- 
ners were  unable  to  depress  their  pieces  sufficiently  to  get  a  good  aim. 
His  boat  went  quickly  by  at  twenty  knots  an  hour,  and  soon  all 
danger  was  over. 

When  satisfied  he  had  nothing  to  fear  from  his  enemies,  Hobart 
Pasha  ordered  the  crew  of  the  Rethymo  to  throw  one  shell  into  the 
centre  of  the  Russian  camp,  an  order  which  was  quickly  obeyed — the 
missile  bursting  in  the  midst  of  the  Muscovite  tents. 

Its  effects  were  of  course  unknown,  but  it  was  the  first  cannon  shot 
fired  upon  the  Danube  in  the  Russo-Turkish  war.  Hobart  Pasha 
subsequently  proceeded  to  Constantinople,  where  he  received  a  hearty 
welcome  and  enthusiastic  congratulations. 

On  the  3d  of  ]May  a  skirmish  took  place  at  Braila.  Two  Turkish 
gunboats  from  Matchin  came  down  opposite  the  town  about  eleven. 
The  Russians  had  as  yet  no  batteries  higher  up  the  river  than  Bar- 
bosch,  and  only  two  field-guns  at  the  barracks  close  to  the  town, 
which  they  pulled  out,  and  at  first  fired  blank  cartridge  to  stop  the 
Turks.  The  gunboats  replied  in  earnest.  Then  the  Russian  guns 
were  put  on  the  house  of  the  Russian  Vice-Consul  in  the  town,  where 
the  Russian  flag  was  flying.  One  woman  was  killed  and  two  boys 
wounded.  A  Russian  shell  struck  the  bridge  of  one  of  the  gunboats, 
and  at  noon  they  retired  up  the  river.  In  the  afternoon  the  gunboats 
returned,  and  steamed  up  and  down  opposite  Braila,  but  without  an 
interchange  of  fire.  About  four  in  the  afternoon  there  was  a  brisk 
exchange  of  rifle  fire  across  the  Danube  between  the  Cossacks  on  the 
Braila  shore  and  a  party  of  Turks  opposite.  The  apparent  aim  was 
to  discover  the  position  and  strength  of  the  batteries. 


448  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  9th  the  Russian  batteries  close  to 
Braila  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  a  body  of  Turkish  infantry  at  Getschet, 
which  had  harassed  them  by  their  fire.  Some  of  the  shots  took  eflTect 
at  fifteen  hundred  yards  range,  killing  two  Roumanians  and  one 
woman  who  had  been  working  in  the  fields  just  below  Braila. 

Having  shelled  the  Turks  out  of  their  position,  consisting  of  field 
entrenchments  with  parapet,  a  Russian  infantry  detachment  crossed  at 
six  o'clock  in  open  boats,  but  met  with  no  resistance.  They  destroyed 
the  earthworks,  burnt  the  huts  and  pickets,  and  returned  to  Braila 
without  sustaining  any  loss. 

The  Russian  batteries  opposite  Getschet,  which  is  situated  at  the 
junction  of  the  Old  and  New  Danube  beds,  had  succeeded  hitherto  in 
preventing  the  Turkish  monitors  from  issuing  from  the  Old  Danube. 
As  soon  as  those  batteries  were  complete,  the  monitors  took  refuge  at 
Getschet  from  their  fire,  and  from  that  point  shelled  Braila.  They 
made  two  or  three  eflbrts  to  escape  from  their  shelter  into  the  main 
stream,  but  each  time  they  were  met  by  so  heavy  a  concentrated  fire 
that  they  were  obliged  to  return  to  their  moorings. 

The  next  day  a  heavy  engagement,  lasting  five  hours,  took  place 
between  a  Roumanian  battery  near  Oltcnitza,  and  a  Turkir-h  battery 
placed  in  position  in  front  of  the  small  Turkish  town  of  Turtukaia, 
supported  by  two  monitors.  Turtukaia  was  set  on  fire  by  shells,  and 
twice  displayed  the  white  flag.  One  monitor  was  also  seriously  dam- 
aged. In  consequence  of  the  conflagration  at  Turtukaia,  the  Turks 
towards  evening  ceased  the  cannonade,  and  during  the  night  withdrew 
the  battery. 

On  the  afternoon  following,  the  Turkish  turret-ship,  the  same  whose 
passage  up  the  stream  had  recently  terrified  Galatz,  steamed  out  from 
Matchin,  followed  by  two  gunboats,  and  at  half-past  three  was  sta- 
tionary under  cover  of  the  wooded  end  of  the  island,  with  its  three 
masts  visible  above  the  trees.  The  Russian  gunners  from  the  batteries 
close  to  Braila,  below  the  Roumanian  barracks,  opened  fire  from  their 
light  guns,  the  range  being  about  four  kilometres,  but  without  efiect. 
The  general  officer  present  gave  directions  for  two  eight-inch  guns  of 
position,  mounted  in  the  battery,  to  come  into  action.  The  first  shot 
had  no  cffl^ft.  The  second  shot,  fired  at  a  high  elevation  with  a  low 
charge,  dropped  on  the  deck  of  the  turret-ship,  and  must  have  crushed 
down  into  the  powder  magazine.     Immediately  a  tremendous  flash 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 


449 


The  New  Iron-Clad  Monitor  Novgorod,  on  the  Danube. 

and  glare  shot  up  from  the  interior  of  the  doomed  craft,  followed  by  a 
heavy  white  smoke  which  hung  like  a  pall.  Through  this  white  cloud 
there  shot  up  to  a  great  height  a  spurt  of  black  fragments  of  all 
shapes  and  sizes.  When  the  smoke  drifted  away  all  that  Avas  visible 
of  the  turret-ship  was  her  stern,  with  the  mizzenmast  standing,  whence 
still  fluttered  the  Turkish  flag.  The  ship  had  gone  down  by  the  head 
in  shallow  water.  The  fore  and  main  masts  were  blown  out  at  once. 
Two  Russian  steam-launches  put  off  from  Braila,  boarded  the  wreck, 
gained  the  flag,  gathered  some  of  the  debris,  and  picked  up  two  men, 
the  fireman  and  the  engineer,  both  severely  injured.  The  turret-ship 
had  a  crew  of  two  hundred  men,  under  the  command  of  Kezim  Bey. 
Fragments  of  the  wreck  were  picked  up  down  the  stream  at  Galatz. 
The  Russian  enthusiasm  in  the  battery  was  intense,  and  the  oificers 
embraced  each  other. 

A  second  Turkish  gunboat  was  destroyed  by  the  Russians  on  the 
morning  of  the  28th,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Matchin  Canal.     On  the 
night  before,  a  detachment  of  forty  Russian  soldiers,  commanded  by 
29 


450  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

Lieutenant  Dubascheff,  accompanied  by  the  commander  of  the  Rou- 
manian flotilla,  Major  Murgescu,  left  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Danube  in  three  or  four  small  boats,  and  proceeded  towards  the  point 
Petra  Fetei,  below  Matchin  and  opposite  Braila,  at  which  point  there 
was  stationed  a  large  Turkish  monitor.  The  night  was  very  dark, 
and  they  managed  to  surround  the  monitor  before  being  discovered  by 
the  Turkish  look-outs.  When  finally  observed  by  the  sentries  on 
board  they  were  challenged,  and  "Who  goes  there?"  rang  out  on  the 
night  air.  Major-  Murgescu  replied  in  Turkish,  "Friends."  The 
Turks,  evidently  not  satisfied,  commenced  firing  in  the  direction  of 
Matchin,  not  knowing  where  these  boats  came  from.  The  shots  flew 
wide  of  their  mark,  and  did  no  damage  to  the  daring  men  in  the 
boats.  During  the  firing  several  of  the  Russian  soldiers,  under  the 
direction  of  Lieutenant  Dubascheff,  plunged  into  the  water,  swam 
silently  to  the  hull  of  the  iron-clad  vessel,  and  placed  the  deadly 
torpedo  in  close  contact  with  the  bottom  of  the  monitor.  After  the 
destructive  machine  had  been  securely  fastened  and  the  wires  of  an 
electric  battery  accurately  adjusted,  the  men  retired  to  the  neigh- 
boring shore  of  the  river,  and  at  half-past  three  in  the  morning  the 
monitor  was  blown  into  the  air,  with  all  the  officers  and  crew.  The 
explosion  was  terrific,  and,  as  nothing  is  said  of  the  crew  being  saved, 
it  is  supposed  that  all  on  board  perished  with  tbe  vessel. 

On  the  morning  of  Friday,  June  22d,  the  Russians  at  last  began 
to  cross  the  Danube.  Contrary  to  expectations  the  great  move  com- 
menced at  Galatz.  Everybody  supposed  that  it  would  be  somewhere 
between  Giurgevo  and  Turna  Magurelle.  That  the  Turlcs  were  of  the 
same  opinion  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  they  had  concentrated  nearly 
their  whole  army  between  Rustchuk  and  Nicopolis,  their  line  diminish- 
ing in  strength  towards  Silistria,  while  the  Dobrudscha  was  almost 
deprived  of  troo^^s. 

The  manner  of  crossing  was  equally  unexpected  and  unforeseen  both 
by  the  Turks  and  the  spectators. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  river  during  four  days  the  Russians  were 
industriously  constructing  a  bridge  near  Braila,  just  below  the  con- 
fluence of  the  old  and  new  channels  of  the  Danube.  This  work  was 
done  within  sight  of  the  Turkish  forces  at  Matchin  and  on  the  heights 
beyond ;  yet  the  Russians  were  allowed  to  construct  the  bridge  in 
peace  and  quiet.  It  wa.s  finished  on  the  night  of  the  21st  except  a 
narrow  space  left  open  for  the  passage  of  boats. 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  451 

The  Danube  at  the  turn  of  the  crossing  -was  still  very  high.  A 
great  part  of  the  valley  was  under  water,  which,  however,  was  rapidly 
subsiding.  The  bridge  was  constructed  from  both  sides  of  the  river  at 
once,  for  the  Turks  allowed  the  Russians  to  cross  over  and  begin  the 
bridge  on  the  Turkish  shore  at  the  same  time  as  it  was  begun  on  the 
Eoumanian.  A  great  part  was  constructed  on  trestles,  and  it  was 
only  in  the  real  channel,  where  the  water  was  swift  and  deep,  consisting 
of  a  space  of  perhaps  a  thousand  yards  wide,  that  pontoons  were  used. 

The  pontoons  were  floated  to  their  places,  anchored  to  trestle  work 
constructed  on  both  sides  at  the  same  time.  The  trestle  work  was 
continued  along  the  old  channel  towards  Matchin  on  the  road  to  the 
latter  place. 

A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  two  channels  of  the  Danube,  running 
nearly  parallel  to  each  other,  from  Hirsova,  where  they  first  separate, 
to  Braila,  where  they  unite,  the  old  channel  making  a  sudden  turn  to 
the  left  just  below  Matchin,  forming  a  right  angle.  It  is  along  the 
north  or  right  bank  of  this  stream  that  the  road  runs  from  Matchin  to 
Braila  and  along  this  road,  still  submerged,  the  Russians  were  ex- 
pected to  advance  by  means  of  the  trestle  work.  The  advance  was 
not  made,  however,  by  this  bridge,  and  the  first  use  to  which  it  was 
put  was  to  delude  the  Turks,  who  had  been  watching  its  construction. 

In  addition  to  the  bridge,  rafts  and  boats  had  been  prepared  for  a 
passage  from  Galatz,  so  as  to  turn  Matchin,  and  it  was  by  this  latter 
means  that  the  crossing  was  actually  effected.  The  Turks  had  pre- 
pared an  ambush  for  the  Russians  near  the  end  of  the  bridge,  which 
the  latter  by  their  change  of  plan  avoided.  General  Zimmermann, 
instead  of  advancing  along  the  inundated  road  from  Braila  to  Matchin 
determined  to  cross  from  Galatz,  and  gain  possession  of  the  heights 
above  that  fortress  which  command  it.  The  secret  of  the  crossing  was 
well  kept,  and  the  operation  was  conducted  with  unexampled  daring. 
The  men  and  horses  crossed  in  the  flat  boats,  while  the  cannon  were 
brought  across  on  the  barges.  After  they  had  crossed,  two  detachments 
carried  after  them,  through  the  inundated  marshes  on  the  river  side, 
a  number  of  boats  and  rafts.  Two  thousand  five  hundred  men  of  the 
Seventh  Regiment  of  Infantry,  with  their  cannon,  crossed  during  the 
day,  and  joined  their  companions,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier- 
General  Gukoff.  The  troops,  which  had  come  from  Galatz,  took  their 
positions  on  the  first  breastworks  on  the  chain  of  mountains  separated 


452 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 


The  Advance  Guard— Russian  Army. 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  453 

by  a  deep  valley  from  the  other  heights  which  command  Matchin. 
They  established  themselves  in  the  villages  of  Garbina  and  Vaharei, 
to  the  southeast  of  Galatz.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
first  cannon  shot  was  fired  on  the  Turkish  batteries.  ,  At  six  o'clock  a 
violent  cannonade  commenced.  The  Russians  at  first  advanced  slowly 
but,  by-and-by,  reinforcements  arrived  from  Reni  and  Galatz,  and 
an  impulse  was  given  to  the  Russian  army.  At  this  time  the  force 
consisted  of  eight  thousand  men.  At  nine  o'clock  the  cannonade 
was  still  proceeding  furiously;  by  noon  the  affair  was  ended. 

The  Turks  seem  to  have  been  fully  informed  of  the  Russian 
movements  in  advance,  and  they  were  on  the  alert  and  prepared  for 
the  attack.  They  fought  with  great  bravery  and  resolution.  Several 
of  the  Russian  soldiers  were  wounded  by  bayonets,  showing  that  there 
was  close,  hot  work.  It  was  rendered  all  the  more  difficult  for  the 
Russians  by  the  fact  that  the  boats  only  sufficed  to  transport  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  men  at  a  time,  and  the  swampy  nature  of  the 
ground  on  which  they  were  landed,  covered  as  it  was  with  tall  reeds 
growing  in  the  water  knee-deep,  made  it  impossible  to  bring  the  four 
pieces  of  artillery  they  had  brought  over  into  action  until  they  were  no 
longer  needed.  The  Turkish  cavalry  behaved  splendidly,  and  charged 
boldly  into  the  Russian  infantry  sabre  in  hand. 

The  Russian  attack  was  made  on  both  sides  along  the  narrow  range 
of  hills  which  extend  past  Vakareni  and  Garbina  towards  Galatz.  The 
Russian  loss  was  between  one  hundred  and  fifty  and  two  hundred 
killed  and  wounded,  of  whom  three  officers  were  killed  and  two 
wounded. 

The  Turks  retreated  towards  Medidje,  on  the  line  of  the  Kustenje 
Railway,  so  that  the  whole  north  end  of  the  Dobrudscha  was  aban- 
doned by  them. 

On  the  afternoon  of  June  25th,  the  Russian  artillery  commenced  the 
bombardment  of  Nicopolis,  and  the  Turkish  batteries  flanking  the 
fortress  on  either  side,  and  covering  the  mouth  of  the  Aluta  river. 
It  must  be  understood  that  Turna  Maguerelle  is  directly  opposite 
Nicopolis,  and  stands  somewhat  from  the  main  stream  of  the  Danube 
at  a  distance  of  about  two  kilometres,  the  intervening  space  being 
occupied  by  the  inundation.  This  inundation  was  parted  off"  from  the 
Danube  by  a  spit  of  land  on  which  stand  the  buildings  of  the  harbor. 

The  Russians  had  about  thirty  heavy  guns  employed  in  the  bom- 


454  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

bardment,  which  were  in  position  both  to  the  right  and  left  of  Turna 
Maguerelle.  The  range  across  the  inundation  of  the  river  was  about 
six  kilometres.  They  had  besides  several  batteries,  long  twelve-pounders, 
which  were  used  jvithout  being  posted  in  the  emplacements,  and  used 
occasionally  the  field  artillery  of  the  Thirty-first  Division,  which  was 
holding  Turna  Maguerelle. 

The  bombardment  cannot  "be  called  crushing.  In  all  hitherto  the 
Russians  fired  about  five  hundred  shells.  They  avoided  the  town  of 
Nicopolis  and  concentrated  their  fire  on  the  Turkish  batteries.  These 
replied,  but  not  with  vigor.  Now  one  battery  fired  a  few  shots,  now 
another,  and  the  Turks  shifted  their  guns  from  one  battery  to  another, 
and  fired  a  few  rounds  from  each,  to  convey  the  impression  that  their 
armament  was  lai'ger  than  it  really  was. 

A  second  crossing  of  the  Danube  was  eflfected  on  the  morning  of 
June  27th,  at  Simnitza.  This  place  is  almost  opjiosite  the  long 
straggling  Turkish  town  of  Sistova,  but  above  it,  and  in  the  hollows 
of  a  precipice  overhanging  the  Danube.  Below  Sistova  for  a  distance 
of  two  miles  the  Turkish  bank  is  steep,  in  places  quite  precipitous, 
with  here  and  there  little  hollows,  and  above  the  river  side  are  steep 
wooded  slopes  covered  with  gardens  and  vineyards,  leading  to  the 
bare  ridge  forming  the  sky-line.  Two  miles  below  Sistova  is  a  narrow, 
marked  depression  in  the  Turkish  bank,  leading  up  from  a  little  cove 
formed  by  the  affluents  of  a  small  stream  above,  and  to  the  right  of 
this  cove  was  a  small  camp  of  Turkish  soldiers,  fixed  there  doubtless 
in  consciousness  of  the  weakness  of  the  point,  and  above  the  camp  on 
the  sky-line  was  a  battery  of  heavy  guns.  Between  the  cove  and 
Sistova  several  cannon  were  disposed  under  cover  of  the  trees,  and 
immediately  on  the  proper  right  of  the  town  was  a  small  open 
earthwork  armed  with  a  few  field  guns.  Sistova  is  an  open  town. 
Probably  in  and  about  it  there  was  not  more  than  a  brigade  of  Turkish 
troops ;  but  then  it  is  not  distant  more  than  a  long  day's  march  from 
either  Rustchuk  or  Nicopolis.     So  much  for  the  Turkish  side. 

About  Simnitza  the  Roumanian  bank  is  high ;  but  between  it  and 
the  Danube  proper,  which  flows  close  to  the  Turkish  bank,  was  a  broad 
tract  partly  of  green  meadow,  partly  of  sand,  partly  of  tenacious  mud, 
the  whole  just  emerging  from  inundation.  This  flat  is  cut  ofl!*  from 
Simnitza  by  a  narrow  arm  of  the  Danube,  so  that  it  is  really  an 
island.     A  raised  road  and  bridge  leadmg  from  the  town  across  the 


HOSTILLTIES  BEGU.V. 


455 


Abdul  Kerim  Pasha,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Army. 

flats  to  the  landing-place  on  the  Danube  had  been  -wrecked  by  the 
floods.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  for  the  Russians  to  gain  access  to 
the  flats  by  a  short  pontoon  bridge.  These  flats  were  still  in  many 
places  under  water,  scored  by  intersecting  streams,  and  studded  with 
impracticable  swamps,  so  that  the  road  through  them  was  difficult  and 
tortuous.  They  are  quite  bare,  except  that  at  the  lower  end,  exactly 
opposite  the  cove  on  the  Turkish  side  of  which  we  have  spoken,  there 
is  a  wood  of  willows  and  alders  of  considerable  extent,  and  capable  of 


456  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN, 

affording  a  good  deal  of  cover.  The  Danube  all  along  the  Sistova 
position  is  about  twelve  hundred  paces  wide,  and  flows  very  rapidly. 
There  is  a  low  island  opposite  Sistova,  but  it  has  no  interest  in  the 
present  narrative.  The  ground  on  the  Roumanian  side  shows  a 
sloping  face  to  the  higher  Turkish  bank,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
bring  troops  into  Simnitza  unobserved.  Hence  probably  the  Turkish 
state  of  preparation,  such  as  it  was. 

The  attempt  was,  as  far  as  possible,  to  be  of  the  nature  of  a  surprise, 
and  it  was  necessary  therefore  to  postpone  the  dispositions  till  after 
nightfall.  The  Division  Dragimiroff  had  the  post  of  honor,  and  was 
expected  to  make  a  footing  on  the  Turkish  side  by  early  morning. 
The  Division  Mirsky  in  support  was  to  make  a  night  march  from 
Lissa,  and  be  in  position  at  Simnitza  at  7  a.m.,  to  follow  its  sister 
division  across  in  the  event  of  the  latter's  success.  In  the  event  of 
failure  it  was  to  take  up  the  fighting  and  force  a  passage  at  all 
sacrifices;  for  the  Archduke  Nicholas  had  announced  that  he  would 
take  no  denial.  The  river  had  to  be  crossed  at  Simnitza  cost  what  it 
might.  Other  divisions  stood  within  call  if  need  were.  The  waters 
might  be  reddened,  but  they  must  be  crossed. 

With  the  darkness  General  Dragimiroff  began  his  dispositions. 
The  first  work  was  to  plant  in  made  emplacements  a  row  of  field-guns 
all  along  the  edge  of  the  flats  to  sweep  with  fire  the  opposite  banks. 
This  Avas  while  his  infantry  was  being  marched  over  the  flats  down 
into  the  cover  of  the  willow  wood.  The  darkness  and  the  obstructions 
were  both  so  great  that  all  was  not  ready  till  the  first  glimmer  of  gray 
dawn.  There  was  no  bridge,  but  a  number  of  river  boats,  capable  of 
holding  from  fifteen  to  forty  men  each.  These  were  dragged  on  car- 
riages through  the  mud,  and  launched  in  the  darkness  from  under  the 
spreading  boughs  of  the  willow  trees.  The  troops  embarked,  and 
pushed  across  as  the  craft  arrived.  Dragimiroff  stood  on  the  slimy 
margin  to  bid  his  gallant  fellows  God  speed.  He  would  fain  have 
shown  the  way,  for  although  a  scientific  soldier,  it  was  his  duty  to 
remain  till  later.  The  grateful  task  devolved  on  Major-General  Yol- 
chine,  whose  brigade  consisted  of  the  regiments  of  Valinsk  and  Minsk, 
the  Fifty-third  and  Fifty-fourth  of  the  line.  The  boats  put  off  singly, 
rowing  across  for  the  little  cove,  and  later  the  little  steam-tug  was 
brought  into  requisition. 

For  once  the  Turks  had  not  spent  the  night  watches  in  heavy  sleep. 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  457 

Their  few  cannon  at  once  opened  fire  on  the  boats,  on  the  hidden 
masses  among  the  willows,  and  on  the  columns  marching  across  the 
flat.  Nor  was  this  all.  From  the  slopes  above  the  cove  there  came 
at  the  boats  a  smart  infantry  fire.  The  Turkish  riflemen  were  holding 
the  landing-place.  Yolchine  had  not  gained  experience  and  credit  m 
Caucasian  warfare  for  nothing.  His  boat  was  leading.  The  Turkish 
riflemen  were  in  position  about  fifty  yards  from  the  shore.  He  landed 
his  handful,  and  bade  them  lie  down  in  the  mud.  One  or  two  were 
down  previously  with  Turkish  bullets.  He  opened  a  skirmishmg  fire 
to  cover  the  landing  boats  that  followed.  One  by  one  these  landed 
their  freights,  who  followed  the  example  of  the  first  boat-load. 

At  length  enough  had  accumulated.     Young  Skobelofi"  was  there,  a 
host  in  himself     Yolchine  bade  his  men  fix  bayonets,  stand  up,  and 
follow  their  officers.     There  was  a  rush  and  a  cheer  that  rang  louder 
in  the  gray  dawn  than  the  Turkish  volley  that  answered  it.     That 
volley  was  not  fired  in  vain,  but  the  Turks  did  not  wait  for  cold  steel. 
Yolchine's  skirmishers  followed  them  doggedly  some  distance  up  the 
slope,  but  for  the  time  could  not  press  on  far  from  the  base.     Busily 
yet  slowly  the  craft  moved  to  and  fro  from  shore  to  shore.     The  Rus- 
sian guns  had  at  once  opened  when  the  Turkish  fire  showed  that  there 
was  no  surprise,  but  however  heavy  a  fire  may  be,  it  will  not  all  at 
once  crush  another  fire.     The  Turkish  shells  kept  falling  in  the  water, 
whistling  through  the  willows,  and  bursting  among  the  columns  on 
the  flat.     One  shell  from  a  mountain  gun  fell  into  a  boat  containing 
two  guns,  their  gunners,  and  the  commandant  of  the  battery.     The 
boat  was  swamped  at  once  and  all  on  board  perished.     This  was  the 
only  serious  casualty,  but  numerous  Russian  soldiers  were  falling  on 
both  sides  of  the  river.     Nevertheless  the  work  went  steadily  on,  and 
soon  after  seven  the  whole  brigade  of  Yolchine  had  reached  the  other 
side,  a  Russian  battery  was  there,  and  Dragimirofi"  himself  had  crossed. 
Cast  your  eye  down  there  to  your  left  front  athwart  the  flats,  and 
note  the  masses  of  troops  waiting  there  or  marching  on  towards  the 
cover  of  the  willows.     See  the  long  row  of  guns  in  action  there  by  the 
water's  edge,  covered  by  the  battalions  of  infantry,  in  this  case  a 
mischievous  conventionality,  owing  to  the  exposure,  for  the  Turkish 
cannon  will  not  just  yet  be  wholly  silenced.     Note  how  deftly  the 
Russian  shells  pitch  into  that  earthwork  on  the  verge  of  Sistova.    But 
the  gallant  gunners  stubbornly  fight  their  guns  under  the  rain  of  fire 


458  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

aud  when  one  gun  is  quiet  another  gives  tongue.  And  what  a  mark! 
Half  an  army  corps  out  there  on  the  flat,  with  no  speck  of  cover  save 
that  patch  of  willows  down  there.  Hark  to  the  crackle  of  musketry- 
fire  on  the  wooded  slopes  rising  out  from  the  cove !  No  wonder  Yol- 
chine's  skirmishers  are  moving,  for  that  Turkish  battery  on  the  sky-line 
is  dropping  shells  with  fell  swiftness  among  the  willow  trees.  Sistova 
seems  stark  empty.  It  might  be  a  city  of  the  dead.  But  the  Turkish 
gunners  cling  to  their  posts  and  their  guns  with  wonderful  staunchness 
amid  clouds  of  dust  thrown  up  by  the  shells  which  burst  around  them. 
Nor  are  the  single  pieces  among  the  trees  wholly  quiet.  Shells  are 
dropping  among  the  troops  on  the  flat,  and  the  ambulance  men  are 
hurrying  about  with  brancards,  or  plodding  towards  the  military 
surgex-y,  with  heavy  blood-sodden  burdens.  You  may  watch  the 
shells  drop  into  the  water,  starring  its  surface  as  they  fall,  as  if  it  had 
been  glass.  What  a  wonder  that  one  and  all  should  miss  those  clumsy, 
heavy-laden  craft  which  stud  the  water  so  thickly !  A  shell  in  one  of 
these  boats  would  produce  fearful  results  among  the  closely-packed 
freight.  Not  less  fell  havoc  would  it  work  among  these  soldiers 
further  on,  massed  there  under  the  shelter  of  the  clay-bank. 

Prince  Mirski  has  received  his  reports  and  final  instructions.  He 
gives  word  to  his  division  to  move  down  on  to  the  flats,  to  be  in 
readiness  to  cross.  Previously,  their  march  finished,  they  had  been 
resting  on  the  grassy  uplands  behind  Simnitza.  Presently  the  cry  is 
raised  that  a  Turkish  monitor  is  coming  doif^n  the  Danube.  Sure 
enough,  near  the  head  of  the  island  is  visible  what  seems  to  be  a  large 
vessel  with  two  funnels  moving  slowly  down  the  stream.  Now  the 
ferry-boats  may  look  out.  Now  is  the  opportunity  for  some  dashing 
torpedo  practice.  But  the  Russian  officers  evince  no  alarm — rather, 
indeed,  satisfaction.  The  fact  is,  that  seeming  monitor  is  really  two 
large  lighters  lashed  together,  which  the  Russians  are  drifting  down 
to  assist  in  transporting  the  troops.  No  person  is  visible  on  board, 
yet  some  one  must  be  steering,  and  the  course  held  is  a  bold  one. 
Slowly  the  lighters  forge  ahead  past  the  very  mouths  of  the  Turkish 
cannon  in  the  Sistova  Battery,  and  are  barely  noticed  by  a  couple  of 
shells.  They  bring  to  at  the  Roumanian  shore  higher  up  than  the 
crossing-place,  and  wait  there  for  their  freight.  Prince  Mirski  takes 
his  stand  at  the  pontoon  bridge  to  watch  his  division  file  past,  and 
greet  the  regiment  as  they  pass  him.     But  in   front  of  the  Ninth 


HOSTILITIES    BEGIN. 


459 


460  HOSTILITIES  BEGUN. 

Division  comes  a  regiment  of  the  brigade  of  riflemen  formed  specially 
for  this  war,  and  attached  to  the  army  corps.  This  brigade  is  armed 
with  Berdan  rifles,  and  comprises  the  finest  marksmen  of  the  whole 
army.  Prince  Mirski's  division  is  made  up  of  four  historic  regiments 
which  sufiered  most  heavily  in  Sebastopol  during  the  great  siege.  They 
are  the  regiments  of  Yeletik,  of  Sefsk,  of  Orloff",  and  of  Brianski,  the 
Thirty-third,  Thirty-fourth,  Thirty-fifth,  and  Thirty-sixth,  of  the  Rus- 
sian line.  Very  gallantly  they  march  down  the  steep  slope  and  across 
the  bridge  on  to  the  swampy  flats.  Soon  there  greets  them  the  scarcely 
enlivening  spectacle,  the  Surgery  of  the  Second  Line  where  the  more 
serious  cases  were  being  dealt  with  before  forwarding  them  to  the  house 
hospitals  in  Simnitza.  About  twenty  shattered  creatures  are  lying 
there  on  blood-stained  stretchers  waiting  their  turn  at  the  hands  of 
the  doctors.  More  than  one  requires  no  further  treatment  than  to  be 
consigned  to  a  soldier's  grave. 

On  the  slopes  above  the  cove  where  the  landing  had  been  made  a 
hotly-contested  battle  raged.  The  Turks  had  rallied  and  concentrated 
on  the  upper  slopes  in  front  of  their  battery  on  the  sky-line,  and, 
gathering  heart  had  come  down  on  the  pickets  of  the  brigade  Yotchine, 
whose  line  had  perhaps  been  scarcely  sufiiciently  fed  by  reinforcements, 
as  they  landed  at  first.  The  Turks  had  made  some  headway  and 
probably  encouraged  themselves  with  the  hope  of  driving  their  north- 
ern foe  into  the  Danube;  but  only  for  a  moment,  men  fell  fast  in 
Yolchine's  skirmishing  line.  It  pressed  on  upwards  irresistibly.  The 
Turks  fell  back  in  trickling  little  streams,  and  the  battery  ceased  to 
fire,  and  no  doubt  was  removed  for  fear  of  capture.  For  soon  after 
noon  the  Russian  infantry  had  crowned  the  heights  and  settled  them- 
selves there,  looking  down  into  the  interior  of  Bulgaria,  with  the 
Danube  conquered  in  their  rear.  The  Turkish  infantry  detachment 
tried  to  work  around  and  down  upon  Sistova,  but  was  thwarted  by  an 
intercepting  skirmishing  force,  which  got  into  position  of  a  cheval  of  the 
road  from  Sistova,  and  thus  cut  oflf  the  Turkish  guns,  which  had  been 
in  the  earthwork  near  the  town. 

And  what  of  the  Turkish  monitor?  She  had  been  hemmed  in  by  a 
cordon  of  torpedoes  within  the  side  channel  to  the  south  of  the  island 
of  East  Vardira.  Although  she  was  puflSng  and  blowing  furiously  in 
her  circumscribed  area,  a  Russian  battery  moving  down  the  river 
bank  on  the  Roumanian  side  shelled  her  into  a  melancholy  victim  of 


HOSTILITIES  BEGUN.  461 

the  acknowledged  supremacy  of  the  newest  war  machine.  So  the 
resistance  terminated,  and  what  followed  is  mere  routine  work.  Iron 
pontoons  began  casually  to  make  their  appearance  both  from  up  stream 
and  down  stream,  and  accumulated  about  the  crossing-place,  being 
used  for  the  time  as  ferry-boats. 

The  crossing  was  effected  with  marvelous  skill  and  finesse.  Until 
the  last  moment  no  hint  was  given.  The  foreign  attaches  were  all 
abroad.  The  Emperor  and  suite  were  ostentatiously  at  Turna  Mague- 
erelle,  and  yet  further  to  promote  the  delusion,  the  Nicopolis  position 
was  assiduously  bombarded  the  day  before.  The  successful  efforts, 
probably  one  of  the  greatest  operations  of  modern  warfare,  cost  only  a 
thousand  men  killed  and  wounded. 


A  Russian  Battery  CoMMANnrNG  the  Danube. 


462  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII, 

THE  CAMPAIGN  IN"  ASIA. 

Simultaneously  with  the  crossing  of  the  Pruth  by  the  Russians 
in  Europe,  the  army  of  the  Caucasus  crossed  the  Asiatic  frontier  of 
Turkey   in   three  columns.     The  main  force,  coming  from  Alexan- 
dropol,  marched   upon  Kars;   the  Rion  detachment  marched   upon 
Batoum;  and  the  Erivan  detachment  upon  Bayazid.     The  Alexan- 
dropol  corps,  under  the  command  of  Adjutant-General  Loris  Melikoff, 
entered  Turkish  territory  in  two  columns,  and,  taking  the  Turkish 
outposts  prisoners,  on  the  same  day  reached  Molla  Musa  and  Bash 
Shuragel.     On  April  27th  the  greater  part  of  the  corps  crossed  the 
River  Kars  Tchai,  and  passed  the  night  at  Kuruk  Dara,  Hadshi 
Vali,  and  Subotan.     On  the  29th  the  corps  reached  Zaim  and  Angi 
Keff,  despatching  twenty-seven   squadrons  and  sotnias,  with  sixteen 
guns,   to   cut  off  the  communication  between  Kars  and  Erzeroum. 
This  cavalry,  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Tchavwchvadse, 
in  their  successful  reconnoitring  on  the  28th,  29th,  and  30th,  destroyed 
the  telegraph  between  Kars  and  Erzeroum,  and  pursued  a  Turkish 
detachment  of  eight  battalions  marching  from  Kars  to  Erzeroum,  and 
commanded   by   Mukhtar   Pasha    himself     To  support  the   cavalry 
General  Loris  Melikoff  ordered  twelve  battalions  of  grenadiers,  with- 
out knapsacks,  accompanied  by  forty  guns  and  five  sotnias,  to  turn 
the  flank  of  the  Turks  at  Kars,  and  proceed  rapidly  to  Visinkcff.     At 
the  same  time  eight  Turkish  battalions  sallied  forth  from  Kars,  and, 
with  some  artillery,  took  up  a  position  under  cover  of  the  fortress 
guns.     The  artillery  which  accompanied  the  Russian  cavalry,  opening 
fire,  dismounted  a  Turkish  cannon.     After  this  engagement,  General 
Loris  Melikoff,  leaving  the  cavalry  at  Visinkeff,  and  with  his  remain- 
ing forces,  returned  on  May  1st  to  his  former  camp  at  Zaim.     The 
population  everywhere  showed  the  most  friendly  disposition  towards 
the  Russian  troops.     There  was  no  resistance  or  opposition  whatever. 
On  the  contrary,  Russian  rule  was  everywhere  accepted  as  a  benefit. 
On  April  24th  a  recently  levied  squadron  of  Karapapachs,  with  their 
colors,   begged   permission   to   enter  the   Russian   service.     All  the 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 


463 


HoBART  Pasha,  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Turkish  Na\^. 


irregular  cavalry  of  the  district  either  joined  the  Russian  forces  or 
dispersed. 

The  troops  of  the  Rion  detachment,  under  the  command  of  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Oklobjio,  marched  upon  Batoum  in  two  columns. 
The  left-hand  column,  under  the  command  of  Major-General  Deni- 
bekoff,  made  for  Muchastir,  while  the  other,  under  General  Scherem- 
tieff,  proceeded  along  the  Atchmarum  road.  On  April  25th  the 
left-hand   column,   after  a  serious   engagement,   took   the   camp   of 


464  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

Muchastir,  and  on  the  26th  fortified  this  strong  position.  The  other 
column  marched  the  Atchwaum  road,  and  likewise  had  an  engagement 
with  the  Turks,  The  Russian  loss  on  the  25th  amounted  to  thirty 
wounded,  among  them  Lieutenant-Colonel  MuscheloflT,  the  commander 
of  the  sixth  battery  of  the  Forty-first  Artillery  Brigade. 

The  troops  of  the  Erivan  detachment,  under  the  command  of  General 
Tergukassofi,  on  the  morning  of  April  30  reached  Bayazid  and 
occupied  the  town  and  citadel.  The  Turkish  garrison,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  strong,  hastily  withdrew  to  the  Allah  Dagh  hills  when 
the  Russian  troops  approached  the  place. 

The  military  operations  connected  with  the  Russian  advance  will  be 
better  understood  by  the  following  account  of  the  Asiatic  theatre  of 
war,  in  connection  with  the  map  contained  in  this  volume.  The  great 
barrier  of  the  Caucasus,  which  naturally  divides  Europe  from  Asia, 
has  for  many  years  ceased  to  form  the  frontier  of  Russia,  and  the 
mountain  chain  itself,  with  some  hundreds  of  miles  of  its  southern 
slopes,  is  now  in  Russian  hands.  Georgia  and  part  of  Armenia  have 
come  beneath  the  sovereignity  of  the  Czar,  and  are  pierced  with  roads 
available  for  military  operations.  The  conquest  of  these  provinces 
was  no  light  task;  but  that  dogged  obstinacy  with  which  Russia 
carries  on  her  unchanging  policy  of  annexation  has  triumphed  over 
all  obstacles,  and,  little  by  little,  Russia  has  extended  her  territory 
southwards  towards  the  INIediterranean.  The  great  barrier  of  the 
Caucasus  once  overstepped,  natural  frontiers  have  ceased  to  exist,  and 
the  further  progress  of  Russian  conquest  is  but  a  question  of  time. 
All  the  Caspian  Sea  except  its  southern  shore  is  now  in  Russia's  hands. 
Her  flotilla  there  is  steadily  increasing;  naval  stations  are  being 
constructed ;  a  little  further  development  of  railways  and  the  Caspian 
will  become  a  Russian  lake,  for  Persia  is  already,  like  a  ripe  plum, 
ready  to  drop  into  the  mouth  of  the  Czar.  The  Trans  Caucasian 
provinces  of  Russia  can  be  approached  in  three  diflJerent  directions: 
by  the  seaports  in  the  Black  Sea,  the  chief  of  wliich  are  Sukhum-Kali 
and  Poti;  by  the  seaport  of  Baku,  on  the  shore  of  the  Caspian;  and 
by  that  one  road  which  alone  crosses  the  mountains  of  the  Caucasus. 
This  road  traverses  the  Kasbek  Pass,  and  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
winter  months  is  impassable  from  deep  snow.  The  seat  of  government 
is  at  Tiflis,  a  town  of  about  one  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  mostly 
Georgians  and  Armenians,  whore  arc  the  arsenal  and  chief  military 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA.  465 

stores  of  the  province.  Tiflis  is  not  fortified.  It  lies  immediately 
south  of  the  Kasbek  Pass,  by  which  it  can  be  approached  from  the 
railway  station  of  Vladikavkas,  by  a  road  of  about  one  hundred  and 
forty  miles  in  length,  crossing  over  the  mountains  at  a  height  of  eight 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  This  road  is  known  as  the  Georgian 
military  road,  and  is  always  kept  in  good  order,  being  repaired  as 
soon  as  the  winters'  snows  have  cleared  ofK  From  it  a  railway  runs 
to  Rostov  and  Taganrog,  in  the  Sea  of  Azov.  From  Tiflis  to  the 
seaport  of  Poti,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  there  runs  a 
single  line  of  railway,  and  beside  it  a  road,  which  has  fallen  somewhat 
out  of  repair  since  the  railway  was  built,  crossing  numerous  streams. 
Poti  is  a  very  inferior  pore.  There  is  a  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Rion,  and  ships  have  to  lie  in  the  open  roadstead,  and  their  cargoes 
must  be  unloaded  into  barges  for  discharge.  A  belt  of  swamj)y  forest 
runs  inland  for  some  distance,  and  the  place  is  the  haunt  of  fever  and 
ague.  It  is  said  that  no  European  has  passed  a  night  there  and  been 
spared  by  the  fever.  About  sixty  or  seventy  miles  north  of  Poti  is 
the  seaport  of  Sukhum-Kali,  where  there  is  a  better  anchorage,  though 
entirely  unsheltered  from  the  south  wind.  It  is  a  more  healthy 
situation  than  Poti,  and  would  probably  long  ago  have  been  united 
by  railway  to  Tiflis  were  it  not  that  Russia  has  not  considered  it  worth 
while  to  spend  money  for  this  purpose,  as  she  has  always  intended  to 
annex  the  nearer  and  still  better  Turkish  port  of  Batoum,  lying  just 
south  of  her  frontier.  From  Tiflis  to  Baku,  the  Caspian  seaport  of 
Trans-Caucasia,  there  is  a  good  post-road,  about  three  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  length.  Baku  is  a  small  town,  having  a  population  of 
only  about  twelve  thousand,  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  barren  and 
desolate  country,  where  vast  naphtha  beds  yield  their  contents  by 
means  of  springs,  the  preparation  of  naphtha  forming  the  chief  in- 
dustry of  the  place.  It  has  a  sheltered  harbor,  and  is  distant  a  little 
more  than  five  hundred  miles  from  Astrachan  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Volga. 

Russian  Trans-Caucasia  contains  very  varied  natures  of  country. 
The  plain  of  the  river  Rion,  w^hich  runs  into  the  Black  Sea  at  Poti,  is 
chiefly  clothed  with  dense  timber  forests,  and  is  feverish  and  unhealthy. 
The  basin  of  the  river  Kura,  which  runs  into  the  Caspian,  contains  in 
its  upper  part  fertile  valleys,  but  its  lower  part,  as  well  as  the  lower 
basin  of  the  Ai-axes,  flows  through  barren  steppes,  which  can  only  be 
30 


466  IHE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

cultivated  by  means  of  a  careful  irrigation.  The  soil,  except  that  of 
the  steppes,  is  of  a  rich  character.  The  country  rises  towards  the 
southern  slopes  of  the  mountains  in  a  succession  of  terraces,  all  cul- 
tivated. Corn  of  various  kinds  is  grown,  there  are  rich  pasture  lauds, 
cotton  and  flax  have  been  successfully  cultivated,  and  the  manufacture 
of  tobacco  is  on  the  increase.  Rich  mineral  deposits  have  also  been 
found,  chiefly  of  copper,  but  also  of  iron  and  of  silver.  We  have 
already  pointed  out  that  there  are  three  means  of  communication 
between  the  interior  of  Russia  and  these  Trans-Caucasian  provinces — 
by  the  Black  Sea  and  Poti,  by  the  Vladikavkas  railway  and  the 
Kasbek  Pass  to  Tiflis,  and  by  the  Volga  and  the  Caspian  to  Baku. 
As  soon  as  the  present  war  was  declared,  Russia  lost  the  command  of 
the  Black  Sea  route ;  and  she  is  therefore  now  restricted  to  the  pass 
over  the  mountains,  which  will  be  closed  against  her  on  the  approach 
of  winter,  and  the  Caspian  route,  which  is  also  likely  to  be  blocked 
by  ice.  From  Poti  through  Tiflis  to  Baku  runs  a  great  main  road, 
nearly  parallel  with  the  chain  of  the  Caucasus.  It  is  the  spine  of 
Trans-Caucasia ;  from  it  on  one  side  extend  vertebrae  in  the  shape  of 
roads  running  at  right  angles  from  this  main  road  to  the  Turkish 
frontier.  Commencing  from  the  Black  Sea  coast,  one  such  road 
follows  the  coast  line  from  Poti  to  Fort  St.  Nicholai,  a  small  work 
which  has  been  bombarded  by  the  Turkish  ships  since  the  opening  of 
the  campaign.  From  Orpiri,  a  village  about  forty  miles  inland  from 
Poti,  a  good  post-road  descends  to  Ozurgeti,  and  is  connected  with 
Fort  St.  Nicholai.  It  is  from  this  post  that  a  Rus-ian  reconnoissance 
advanced  in  the  direction  of  Batoum  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign, 
and  was  driven  back  by  the  Turkish  troops  posted  on  the  Tchourouk. 
The  next  road  of  any  importance  to  the  frontier  is  one  which,  starting 
from  a  point  about  half  way  between  Tiflis  and  Poti,  follows  the  valley 
of  the  Upper  Kura  to  Akhaltsich,  a  town  of  some  fourteen  thousand 
inhal)itants,  close  to  the  Turkish  frontier. 

From  Tiflis  a  road  runs  to  Achalkalaki,  a  distance  of  more  than 
one  hundred  miles,  passing  on  the  road  the  village  of  Biely  Klutch,  to 
wliioh  a  part  of  the  Tiflis  arsenal  has  recently  been  removed.  Ach- 
alkalaki, Avhich  was  once  a  fine  city,  is  now  but  a  poor  village.  It 
has,  however,  a  fort  of  very  secondary  importance,  also  commanded 
from  hills  at  short  range.  From  Tiflis  there  arc  several  routes  leading 
to  the  great  Russian  frontier  fortress  of  Gumri  or  Alexandropol,  and 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 


467 


468  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

through  this  passes  the  main  high  road  into  Asiatic  Turkey.  The 
fortress  here  is  separated  from  the  town  by  a  ravine,  and  has  been 
considerably  strengthened  by  the  Russians.  A  number  of  Ki-upp  guns 
of  very  large  calibre  have  been  mounted  there;  but  it  is  apparently 
capable  of  escalade  from  the  towns  and  ravines  on  the  eastern  side. 
Alexandropol  has  been  converted  by  the  Russians  into  a  great  frontier 
depot.  Here  was  collected  the  force  which,  under  General  Melikoff, 
advanced  on  the  main  road  against  Kars,  and  it  will  doubtless  be  the 
advanced  base  of  operations  in  the  Russian  campaign  against  Turkey. 
By  far  the  best  though  the  longest  way  from  Tiflis  to  Alexandropol 
is  to  follow  the  main  road  towards  Baku  until  Novo-Akstafa  is 
reached,  thence  to  turn  off  on  the  post-road  to  Delijan,  where  the  road 
branches,  one  good  route  leading  to  Alexandropol,  another  to  Erivan. 
The  distance  from  Tiflis  to  Alexandropol  by  this  route  is  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles.  There  is  a  shorter  road,  but  not  so  good, 
only  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  in  length.  Erivan  is  situated 
some  forty  miles  back  from  the  Turkish  frontier,  and  from  it  runs  the 
great  post-road  to  Tabriz,  in  Persia,  and  thence  to  Teheran.  Erivac 
is  a  town  of  some  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  mostly  Armenians, 
and  has  one  of  those  old-fashioned  fortifications  which  depend  chiefly 
for  their  strength  upon  the  thickness  of  their  walls.  From  Erivan 
some  inferior  roads  lead  over  the  Ararat  range  to  Bayazid,  a  fortified 
place  situated  in  the  extreme  angle  of  the  Turkish  frontier,  under  the 
slopes  of  Mount  Ararat;  and  by  these  roads  Russian  troops  advanced, 
and  Bayazid  surrendered  without  a  blow,  its  garrison  falling  back  in 
the  direction  of  Erzeroum.  A  road  running  parallel  to  the  frontier, 
in  many  places  very  bad,  but  still  available  for  troops,  connects  Fort 
St.  Nicholai,  Akhaltsich,  Achalkalaki  and  Alexandropol  with  villages 
at  the  foot  of  the  Ararat  range.  The  whole  of  the  country  lying 
between  the  great  Poti-Baku  road  and  the  Turkish  frontier  is  inter- 
sected by  ravines  and  streams. 

Let  us  now  pass  to  the  Turkish  territory.  Standing  back  about 
one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  the  Russian  frontier  at  Alex- 
andropol, with  a  mountainous,  broken  country  between,  is  Erzeroum, 
the  capital  of  Turkish  Armenia,  with  a  population  of  about  forty 
thousand  souls.  It  is  far  better  built  than  most  Turkish  towns,  its 
houses  being  mostly  constructed  of  stone,  and  some  of  them  of  hand- 
some appearance.     It  stands  on  a  small  hill  at  the  foot  of  a  mountain 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA.  469 

in  an  extensive  plain,  and  contains  no  less  than  seventy  mosques  and 
three  Christian  churches.  It  is  well  supplied  with  fountains,  whose 
water  is  conducted  to  them  by  conduits  from  the  hills.  It  is  sur- 
rounded on  north,  south,  and  east  by  high  mountains,  on  the  slopes 
of  which  the  Turks  have  constructed  earthworks,  but  it  is  not  strongly 
fortified.  From  Erzeroum  as  a  centre,  roads  branch  out  to  all  parts 
of  the  frontier  from  Bayazid  to  Batoum ;  the  two  chief  roads  being 
that  leading  through  Kars,  which  is  about  forty  miles  from  Alex- 
andropol  and  one  hundred  and  forty  from  Erzeroum,  and  that  leading 
by  Kara  Kalissa  to  Bayazid,  distant  about  one  hundred  and  eighty 
miles.  The  first  of  these  roads — namely,  that  by  Kars — divides  at 
Meshed,  about  sixteen  miles  west  of  Kars,  whence  two  separate  routes 
lead  to  Erzeroum — one  by  Bardez  and  Olti,  and  one  by  Khorasan ; 
another  r.id  more  northern  road  leads  direct  from  Kars  to  Olti, 
without  gwing  near  Bardez;  a  road  also  leads  from  Kars  to  Kara 
Kalissa,  on  the  Bayazid-Erzeroum  road.  From  Olti,  which  is  about 
seventy  miles  from  Erzeroum,  a  road  leads  to  Ardahan,  some  twenty 
miles  from  the  frontier,  opposite  Ackhalkalaki ;  and  another  road  to 
the  frontier  opposite  Akhaltsich;  another,  again  to  Batoum.  Thus, 
if  the  Turks  take  up  a  position  between  Olti  and  Khorasan,  they  will 
cover  all  the  roads  leading  from  the  Russian  frontier  upon  Erzeroum. 
From  Khorasan  to  Olti  would  be  about  four  marches.  In  front  of 
this  line  there  is  a  chain  of  mountains  called  the  Soghanli-Dagh, 
covered  with  forests  of  Scotch  firs  and  intersected  by  streams  run- 
ning in  deep  gullies,  but  penetrated  by  numerous  tracks,  some  of  them 
even  passable  for  wheels,  by  which  an  advancing  army  is  enabled  to 
evade  the  main  roads.  It  was  in  this  manner  that  Paskievitch  turned 
the  Turkish  position  when  they  attempted  to  defend  these  mountains 
in  1829. 

And  now  a  word  as  to  the  Turkish  defences  on  the  frontier.  And 
first  Batoum.  Batoum,  though  exposed  to  the  north,  is  a  good 
harbor,  sheltered  from  the  south  winds  by  high  hills,  with  deep  water 
close  to  the  shore.  It  is  about  thirty  miles  by  land  from  the  Russian 
frontier,  and  is  strongly  defended  both  by  land  and  by  sea.  The  value 
to  any  nation  whose  territories  border  the  Black  Sea  is  great;  for  it  is 
the  only  good  port  on  the  east  coast  south  of  the  Sea  of  Azov.  Doubt- 
less if  it  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians,  it  would  long  ere  this 
have  been  in  railway   communication  with  Tiflis;  and  we  can  well 


470  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

understand  their  anxiety  to  obtain  it.  The  wretched  port  of  Poti 
owes  its  prosperity,  if  not  indeed  its  very  existence,  to  the  slip  of  the 
pen ;  for  when  Turkey  ceded  to  Russia  by  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople 
the  territory  between  Kars  and  the  sea,  the  boundary  line  was  by 
general  consent  drawn  to  run  down  the  river  Tschorooch,  which 
arrangement  would  have  brought  over  to  the  Russian  side  the  advan- 
tageous harbor  of  Batoum.  It  was,  however,  discovered,  but  not  until 
after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace,  that  the  river  Tscholock, 
Avhich  runs  about  eighteen  miles  on  this  side  of  Batoum,  had  been 
inserted  in  the  treaty  as  the  boundary  line.  Batoum  was  lost,  and 
Poti  was  accepted  in  its  stead.  The  next  fortified  place  is  Ardahan ; 
here  there  are  only  field-works;  it  is  a  mere  mud  village,  with  an  old 
castle,  the  houses  being  for  the  most  part  built  underground  for 
protection  from  the  severity  of  the  climate.  Ardahan  can  be  ap- 
proached both  from  Akhaltsich  and  Acholkalaki;  but  it  aflTords 
excellent  position  for  defence  against  an  advance  from  either  side. 
Kars  is  a  partly  walled  town,  with  a  citadel  situated  on  both  banks 
of  the  Kars-Tchai,  crossed  here  by  stone  bridges.  It  has  a  population 
of  thirteen  thousand  or  fourteen  thousand  and  is  situated  in  a  corn- 
producing  plain.  It  is  surrounded  by  heights,  and  would  be  diflicult 
to  fortify  thoroughly;  but  the  Turks  constructed  redoubts  for  its 
defence.  The  garrison  left  the  fortress  on  April  30,  and  took  up  a 
position  under  the  shelter  of  the  redoubts.  Erzeroum  is  situated  on 
the  upper  waters  of  the  western  Euphrates  ;  to  reach  it  from  Bayazid 
the  upper  waters  of  the  eastern  Euphrates  are  crossed.  From  Erze- 
roum to  Trebizond  there  is  a  good  road  of  about  two  hundred  miles 
in  length;  and  it  is  about  the  same  distance  to  Diarbekir,  on  the  great 
Bagdad  caravau  road.  From  Diarbekir  to  the  Gulf  of  Scanderoun  it 
is  about  three  hundred  miles. 

In  the  early  part  of  May  a  rising  occurred  in  Circassia,  which 
threatened  seriously  to  endanger  the  Russian  position  before  Batoum 
and  Erzeroum,  as  the  line  of  country  between  Poti  and  Tiflis  was  at 
the  time  practically  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks  and  the  local  population. 
Just  after  the  declaration  of  war,  five  leading  Circassian  chiefs  started 
from  Constantinople  for  Batoum.  Their  names  were  Hadji  Hussein 
Bey,  Mandkambekat  Bey,  and  Mchemet  Bey.  They  had  arranged 
a  carefully  considered  plan  of  action  with  the  Ottoman  authorities 
and  their  own  countrymen.     Arrived  at  Batoum,  they  went  on  board 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 


471 


View  of  Widdtn,  from  Kalafat. 

the  pquadron  of  Hassan  Pasha,  who  forthwith  sailed  with  five  Iron-cl ads 
for  the  Russian  port  and  fortress  of  Soukum  Kaleh.  The  Turkish 
men-of-war  made  their  destination  in  the  darkness  of  early  morning, 
casting  anchor  a  little  after  three  o'clock  A.m.  They  at  once  landed 
the  Circassian  chieftains,  with  a  party  of  men  carrying  six  hundred 
muskets  and  ammunition,  which  were  speedily  distributed  among  the 
expectant  and  willing  people.  The  neighboring  country  was  so 
thoroughly  and  quickly  roused  that  by  broad  daylight  the  Beys  had 
got  together  as  many  as  three  thousand  Circassians.  Hassan  Pasha 
then  landed  an  additional  force,  composed  of  other  Circassians,  Kurds, 
Lazis,  and  Turks;  and,  while  the  iron-clads opened  a  vigorous  can- 
nonade upon  the  fortress,  the  Beys,  with  their  volunteers  and  aux- 
iliaries, attacked  the  place  with  desperate  resolution.  The  Russians 
offered  a  determined  but  vain  opposition,  losing  terribly. 


472  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

After  this  the  insurrection  spread  like  -wildfire.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  surrounding  districts  gathered  by  thousands  with  weapons  of  all 
sorts  to  the  Turkish  standard.  They  drove  the  Muscovite  garrison 
and  road  guards  all  over  the  district,  chasing  them  to  Gangara,  which 
they  also  destroyed.  When  these  successes  were  reported,  Hassan 
Pasha  landed  a  new  supply  of  rifles  and  cartridges  to  equip  the  Cir- 
cassians, and  a  formidable  local  force  was  organized  to  march  upon  the 
railway  line  to  Tiflis,  aiming  at  the  direction  of  Kutais,  and  a  large 
band  was  despatched  to  raise  the  country  in  the  rear  of  the  Russian 
columns  which  were  in  position  before  Batoum. 

At  the  latter  place,  a  conflict  of  no  small  importance  occurred  on  the 
10th  and  11th  of  June,  resulting  in  a  victory  for  Turkish  forces.  For 
reasons  best  known  to  themselves,  the  Turks  had  allowed  the  outer 
heights,  which  were  held  by  the  Bashi-Bazouks,  to  remain  wholly 
undefended  by  any  pieces  of  artillery.  The  men  were  in  their 
trenches,  their  outposts  were  in  good  position,  but  guns  they  had  none. 
The  Russians  must  in  some  way  have  come  to  know  this;  for  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  10th  they  began  an  attack  which  could  only  have 
been  made  in  the  expectation  of  meeting  no  heavier  fire  than  that  of 
musketry.  Boldly  quitting  all  kind  of  cover,  they  advanced  recklessly 
across  the  open  plain  of  Tchwruk-Sou,"  where  they  were  encamped,  and 
began  to  ascend  the  hills  without  the  slightest  appearance  of  having 
anything  to  fear.  The  guns  from  the  other  parts  of  the  Turkish  lines 
were  unable  to  do  much  to  prevent  this,  and  as,  at  the  close  of  thisi 
first  day,  the  Turks  still  held  their  positions,  the  Pasha  in  command 
composed  himself  to  sleep  with  the  sweet  reflection  that  Allah  would 
by  no  means  permit  his  servants  and  the  friends  of  Mohammed  to  be 
dispersed,  and  still  sent  no  guns  to  the  position.  Accordingly,  the 
next  morning  saw  a  renewal  of  the  battle.  On  came  the  Russians  up 
to  the  very  entrenchments,  notwithstanding  the  shower  of  shot  poured 
in  upon  them.  Four  times  they  attempted  to  carry  the  lines,  and 
four  times  were  driven  back  by  the  indomitable  valor  of  the  Bashi. 
Bazouks.  The  fact  that  the  Russians  had  artillery  in  the  fight,  and 
the  Turks  none,  made  very  little  difference;  for  the  shells  the  Mus- 
covs  threw  seemed  to  have  an  invincible  objection  to  striking  a  Mus- 
sulman, and  all  went  very  wide  of  the  mark  for  which  they  were 
intended.  Even  when  the  guns  were  brought  forward  the  Turks, 
rushing  out  of  their  entrenchments,  came  almost  up  to  their   muzzles 


THE    CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA.  473 

in  chase  of  the  flying  Russians.  At  one  time  during  the  battle  there 
was  a  very  splendid,  though  a  sanguinary,  spectacle.  The  Russians, 
coming  on  in  a  somewhat  dense  column,  were  slowly  pushing  up  the 
mountain  side  when  a  body  of  Bashi-Bazouks  were  taken  into  the 
great  wood  which  covers  the  Turkish  right  wing,  and  passing  through 
were  brought  out  upon  the  Russian  flank,  effecting  great  slaughter, 
the  Muscovites  being  upon  ground  perfectly  open,  and  having  no 
choice  but  to  fight  or  fly.  The  Russian  line  at  first  stood  firm ;  then 
hesitated;  there  was  a  volley,  then  a  sign  of  wavering;  they  were 
retreating — and  soon  running — throwing  their  rifles  away  and  making 
oflT  across  the  plain,  with  the  Bashi-Bazouks  in  full  chase.  But  as  the 
Russians  ran  they  gradually  got  under  cover  of  the  guns,  which 
increased  their  energetic  fire,  and  very  soon  the  Bashi-Bazouks  had 
to  fall  back  and  get  into  the  wood  once  more.  Still  it  was  a  signal 
victory  for  the  Turks;  more  than  four  thousand  Russians  were  on  the 
ground — a  thousand  Turks  lay  there  also.  Altogether  the  afiair  was 
most  creditable  for  the  Turkish  arms,  and  might  have  been  magnifi- 
cently utilized  by  a  good  commander.  However,  as  night  came  on, 
the  Pasha  gave  orders  for  part  of  the  heights  to  be  evacuated,  and 
next  morning  saw  them  occupied  by  a  body  of  Russians.  Thus  the 
Turks  gained  a  victory  and  lost  a  good  position.  In  the  movement 
against  Kars  the  Russians  were  more  successful. 

The  Russian  cavalry  under  General  Loris  Melikoff*,  made  recon- 
noissances  on  April  28th,  29th,  and  30th,  in  the  direction  of  Kanicheff", 
Vladikars,  Tikmo,  Sanebuthor,  and  Bazigran.  A  detachment  of  his 
forces  reached  Lachejuirt,  where  it  succeeded  in  destroying  the  tele- 
graph line  from  Kars  to  Erzeroum  for  a  distance  of  seven  miles. 
Another  detachment  of  the  division,  under  General  Cheremetieff", 
advanced  as  far  as  Varimon,  near  the  Saganluc.  Eight  battalions  of 
Turks  proceeding  with  a  battery  of  artillery  from  Kars  to  Erzeroum, 
were  pursued  by  the  Russian  cavalry,  losing  their  baggage  and 
ammunition  wagons.  General  Melikoff,  with  the  object  of  supporting 
the  cavalry,  put  himself  on  the  march  on  April  29th,  and  on  the 
same  day,  with  forty  thousand  troops,  attacked  Mukhtar  Pasha, 
encamped  five  miles  from  Kars.  The  Turks  fought  desperately,  but 
the  Russians,  supported  by  powerful  artillery,  dislodged  them  from 
all  their  positions.  Mukhtar,  calling  out  all  the  reserves  of  the  Kars 
garrison,  attempted  at  six  o'clock  next  day  to  recover  his  ground  with 


474  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men ;  but  the  Russians,  reinforced  during 
the  night  by  two  divisions  and  ten  batteries,  beat  the  Turks  all  along 
the  line,  and  drove  them  under  the  guns  of  Kars.  The  losses  on  both 
sides  were  considerable,  but  those  of  Mukhtar  were  enormous. 

About  the  same  time,  on  the  appearance  of  the  vanguard  of  the 
Erivan  Division,  the  Tui'kish  garrison  of  Bayazid,  numbering  seven- 
teen hundred  men,  left  the  place  and  withdrew  to  the  Allada  heights, 
abandoning  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition.  The  Russian  troops 
immediately  occupied  the  town  and  citadel,  thus  securing  the  com- 
mand of  the  road  which  leads  to  Erzeroum,  the  capital  of  Armenia. 

On  the  IGth  of  May  Major-General  Komaroff  executed  a  recon- 
noissance  before  Kars,  with  four  battalions  of  infantry,  two  batteries, 
and  three  sotnias  of  irregular  cavalry  and  Karapack  militia.  The 
two  latter,  while  marching  in  advance  ou  the  left  wing,  were  vigor- 
ously attacked  by  a  Turkish  force  consisting  of  one  thousand  dragoons, 
eight  infantry  battalions,  and  a  battery  of  artillery.  Six  sotnias  of 
Dagestian  cavalry  were  sent  to  the  assistance  of  the  left  wing,  and  a 
stubbornly-contested  hand-to-hand  engagement  ensued.  The  Turks 
had  sixty-four  dead,  besides  wounded,  and  two  prisoners.  They  also 
lost  many  horses  and  a  quantity  of  arms.  The  losses  on  the  Russian 
side  were  one  officer  and  twenty  horsemen  killed,  and  five  ofiicers  and 
fifty-four  horsemen  wounded. 

On  the  next  day,  the  Russians  captured  the  outworks  of  Ardahan, 
its  fortifications,  sixty  guns,  immense  stores  of  provisions  and  ammu- 
nition, the  camp  formerly  occupied  by  fourteen  battalions  of  Turks, 
and  the  citadel,  an  outpost  of  Kars.  The  admirable  fire  of  the 
Russian  artillery  had,  between  three  and  six  p.m.,  made  a  breach  in 
the  walls  of  the  place.  At  six  o'clock  the  Erivan,  Tiflis,  and  Baku 
regiments,  and  the  sappers,  advanced  to  the  assault.  The  Turks 
could  not  withstand  the  onslaught,  and  took  to  flight,  leaving  a  great 
number  of  dead  on  the  field,  the  cavalry  pursuing  them  in  spite  of  the 
darkness.  At  nine  p.m.  the  troops  traversed  the  whole  town,  as  well 
as  all  the  fortifications,  while  the  bands  played  the  Russian  National 
Anthem. 

After  the  capture  of  Ardahan  the  siege  of  Kars  was  prosecuted  with 
vigor.  The  Russians  made  a  determined  effort  to  carry  Fort  Kara- 
dagh,  on  the  cast  side.  This  fort  commands  the  Gumi'i  and  Alex- 
andropol  roads,  and  covers  the  citadel  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Kars 


THE    CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 


475 


Prince  Charles  of  Roumania. 


Tchai.  The  assault  was  well  delivered ;  a  most  desperate  flght  continued 
for  five  hours  with  artillery,  the  Turkish  infantry  being  repeatedly 
repulsed,  although  renewing  the  assault  with  reinforcements.  Under 
cover  of  a  tremendous  cannonade  the  Turks  made  a  sudden  sortie  on 
the  Muscovs;  a  hand-to-hand  fight  followed  with  the  infantry,  the 
Kussians  exhibiting  the  most  remarkable  intrepidity  under  the  plough- 
ing fire  of  shell  and  grape  with  which  their  lines  were  being  rapidly 
thinned.  A  few  more  vigorous  dashes  of  the  Turkish  infantry  with 
the  bayonet,  and  their  opponents  fell  back,  losing  heavily  in  their 
retreat  from  the  pursuing  fire  of  the  fort  and  batteries,  accompanied 
by  a  skillfully  executed  dash  of  the  Circassians,  succeeded  in  cutting 
ofi'  a  number  of  Cossacks. 


476  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

On  the  30th  of  May  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Karadagh  was 
renewed  with  considerable  fierceness,  the  Russians  having  brouo-ht 
heavier  guns  into  position,  with  which  they  pounded  away  with  a 
continuous  shower  of  shell  which,  however,  did  not  prove  effective. 

On  the  morning  of  June  14th  the  Russians,  from  their  batteries  on 
the  western  and  eastern  sides,  opened  a  slow,  but  well  directed,  fire  on 
Forts  Tekhmass  and  Karabagh ;  as  the  day  advanced  their  cannonade 
became  heavier,  and  combined  assaults  were  made  on  both  points,  new 
movements  being  developed  by  the  besiegers.  Throughout  the  day, 
and  until  night  terminated  the  conflict,  a  fierce  combat  was  waged 
with  artillery  and  musketry,  the  assailants  losing  heavily  in  each 
assault  from  their  exposed  position.  On  the  next  day  the  fight  was 
renewed  with  a  determination  as  if  the  Russians  were  making  a 
supreme  efibrt  to  carry  cither  or  both  entrenched  forts,  the  possession 
of  which  would  have  been,  perhai^s,  fatal  for  Kars.  With  equal 
earnestness  X\\q  garrison  met  the  several  attacks  with  an  eflfectiveness 
which  was  remarkable  in  view  of  the  immense  force  brought  to  bear 
against  the  defenders.  On  the  16th  a  bloody  battle  was  fought,  the 
Russians  making  tremendous  sacrifices  of  men  to  achieve  success.  At 
the  point  of  the  bayonet  they  were  hurled  back  again  and  again,  their 
advancing  columns,  having  previously  been  swept  by  the  batteries, 
reforming  and  throwing  themselves  on  the  bayonets  of  the  Turks,  who 
fought  with  a  bravery  and  a  skill  worthy  of  veteran  soldiers.  Beaten 
at  all  points,  the  Russians  once  more  fell  back,  leaving  the  ground 
covered  with  their  wounded  and  dead. 

The  most  serious  engagement  since  the  invasion  of  Armenia  occurred 
upon  the  same  day,  between  Alaschkar  and  the  village  of  Delibaba, 
not  far  from  Topra  Kale,  on  the  road  leading  from  Bayazid  to  Kapri 
Kenyi,  the  line  of  communication  of  the  Turkish  right  wing.  The 
Turks  had  occupied  Tobur,  and  it  was  their  intention  to  throw  up 
intrenchments  there  and  await  the  coming  of  the  Russians.  But 
bolder  counsels  prevailed  during  the  night,  and  accordingly  at  6.30 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  15th,  six  battalions  of  infimtry  and  all 
the  companies  of  field  artillery  marched  towards  Zeidekan.  A  reserve 
force  of  two  battalions  was  left  at  Tabur.  By  noon  the  Turkish  army 
had  regained  the  height'?  they  had  abandoned  the  evening  before.  These 
heights  are  about  six  miles  from  Tabur.  The  Russians  also  reoccupied 
the  heights  they  had  captured  the  previous  day.    No  attack  was  made, 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA.  477 

however,  by  either  army  that  day,  and  at  night  both  armies  encamped 
upon  the  heights  they  had  held.  Some  skirmishing  took  place  in  the 
night  ■which  followed,  between  outposts  of  the  two  armies,  and  in  one 
of  these  conflicts  a  Turkish  general,  while  reconuoitering,  was  badly 
wounded. 

The  following  day,  June  16,  the  battle  was  fought.  The  Russian 
infantry  was  in  line  at  5  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  at  6  o'clock 
began  their  march  towards  the  Turks,  descending  into  the  valley  that 
lay  between  them  and  their  enemy's  camp.  At  the  moment  that  the 
infantry  began  their  advance,  the  Russian  artillerymen  began  to  shell 
furiously  the  Turkish  camp.  The  Turkish  artillerymen  replied  to  the 
fire,  and  also  shelled  the  swiftly  advancing  Russian  infantry.  They 
were  very  unskillful  in  their  use  of  the  cannon,  however,  and  ap- 
parently did  but  little  execution  among  the  dark  masses  of  the 
approaching  enemy.  The  Russians  in  twenty  minutes  had  descended 
from  their  camp,  and  had  scaled  a  small  ridge  that  lifted  itself  in  the 
valley  between  the  two  heights.  By  this  movement  they  succeeded 
in  forcing  back  a  little  the  Turkish  right  wing.  There  was  then 
constant  firing  between  the  infantry  of  the  two  armies  for  over  an 
hour,  the  Russians  apparently  not  daring  to  make  a  further  advance. 
The  Turkish  artillery  during  the  interval  fired  constantly  at  the 
Russian  soldiers,  but  were  unable  to  drive  them  back  from  the  ridge 
to  the  heights.  The  Turkish  cannon  aj^parently  did  some  execution, 
however,  for  after  enduring  their  fire  for  an  hour,  the  Russians  brought 
down  four  field  guns  from  their  camp  and  vigorously  replied.  The 
Russian  cannon  were  so  well  handled  that  the  Turkish  left  wing  was 
compelled  to  fall  back.  The  Russian  infantry  then  made  a  fierce 
attack  on  the  Turkish  right  wing  and  also  forced  it  back.  The 
Turkish  commander,  while  attempting  to  rally  his  soldiers,  was  shot 
through  the  head  and  killed.  Two  hours  then  passed  without  any 
change  in  the  position  of  fhe  two  armies;  the  Turkish  infantry  and 
artillery  meantime  firing  unremittingly  upon  the  Russians,  while  the 
latter,  singularly,  as  the  Turks  thought,  did  not  return  it.  The  Rus- 
sian regiments  were  engaged  continually  in  what  seemed  to  the  Turks 
purposeless  evolutions,  but  the  object  was  soon  made  apparent  to  them. 
The  Russians  brought  all  their  artillery  from  their  camps  and  placed 
it  in  advantageous  positions,  and  shifted  the  bulk  of  their  infantry  to 
their   left  wing.     The  moment  all  was  ready  the  Russian  artillery 


478  THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

began  shelling  the  Turkish  left  wing,  and  the  strong  Russian  right 
wing  dashed  upon  it.  Both  the  Turkish  infantry  and  artillery,  when 
this  assault  was  made,  were  short  of  ammunition.  The  Turks  resisted 
the  attack  very  bravely,  however,  and  it  was  only  after  there  were 
great  gaps  in  their  ranks  where  the  dead  and  Avounded  had  fallen, 
that  the  right  wing  gave  way.  The  Cossack  cavalry  dashed  into  the 
intervals  between  the  retreating  masses  of  the  Turks  and  cut  down 
every  straggler. 

The  Turks  retreated  to  Tabur.  They  lost  during  the  battle  two 
thousand  dead  and  woundv^el,  besides  Mehemet  Pasha,  their  commander, 
who  fell,  sword  in  hand,  in  front  of  his  men.  The  Russian  loss  was 
only  five  hundred. 

After  the  engagement  of  the  16th  the  Russians  prepared  themselves 
for  a  great  attack  on  the  Turkish  right  wing,  or  rather  on  the  right 
flank  of  the  Turks ;  but  their  plan  was  not  crowned  with  success — 
because  the  Turks  had  already  been  reinforced  by  six  thousand  infan- 
try and  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  cavalry.  The  Turks  pre- 
sented all  their  front  to  the  Russians,  and  the  battle  terminated  after 
a  discharge  of  musketry,  and  cavalry  skirmishing,  without  the  use  of 
artillery.  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  the  18th,  the  Russians 
withdrew  to  the  plain  of  Khalias,  where  they  chose  their  position  and 
mounted  six  Krupp  guns,  in  order  to  protect  their  line  of  retreat  on 
Zedikan.  The  Turkish  right  wing  was  completely  ignorant  of  the 
plan  of  the  Russians,  whose  cavalry  was  continually  pushing  forward 
reconnoitering  in  the  direction  of  Passin.  Ahmed  JMukhtar,  after 
having  reinforced  the  right  wing  under  the  command  of  the  General 
of  Division  Ahmed  Pasha,  left  his  corps  under  the  provisional  com- 
mand of  Koort  Ismail  Pasha,  and  went  to  Tai-Khodja,  a  village  at 
about  four  miles  from  the  gorge  of  Delibaba,  and  fifteen  miles  from 
Khalias.  On  the  20th  of  June  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a  Cir- 
cassian cavalry  force  of  six  hundred  men,  and  arrived  at  the  camp 
of  the  Ottoman  right  wing,  occupying  a  portion  of  the  little  plain  of 
Khalias,  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  21st  a  desperate  strutrgle 
began  between  the  two  combatants.  The  Russians  had  taken  tlicir 
position  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  the  distance  which  separated 
the  two  armies  being  three  miles.  A  well-sustained  fire  of  artillery 
continued  for  two  hours.    At  nine  o'clock  a.m.  the  Russians  made  a 


THE   CAMPAIGN  IN  AST  A. 


479 


480  THE    CAMPAIGN  IN  ASIA. 

charge,  crossed  the  river,  and  dislodged  the  Turkish  front,  which  fell 
back  on  its  line  of  retreat,  protected  by  the  continual  fire  of  the  two 
batteries  mounted  in  a  favorable  position. 

The  Russians  not  being  able  to  sustain  any  longer  their  position, 
began  to  withdraw.  Their  cavalry  was  then  charged  by  the  Circassians 
and  suffered  heavy  loss.  Upon  order  of  General  Tergukasoff,  Russian 
regulars  and  irregulars  dismounted  and  fought  as  riflemen.  At  two 
o'clock  the  Turks,  who  had  driven  back  the  Russians  beyond  the 
river,  continued  their  pursuit  for  four  hours,  but  were  compelled  to  fall 
back  in  consequence  of  the  great  losses  that  their  left  flauk  sustained 
by  the  fire  of  the  Russian  battery  stationed  in  a  very  favorable 
position.  The  retreat  was  effected  in  good  order;  the  Russians  ad- 
vanced again,  and  for  a  second  time  passed  over  the  limits  of  their 
line  of  attack ;  a  destructive  fire  was  exchanged  on  both  sides.  At 
half-past  four  o'clock  a  column  of  the  Turkish  reserve  fell  on  the 
right  flank  of  the  Russians  and  compelled  them  to  give  way.  This 
manoeuvre  lasted  until  nightfall;  both  sides  fought  well.  The  Turks 
lost  in  this  battle  five  hundred  and  eighty  killed  and  four  hundred 
and  eighty  wounded.  The  Russian  loss  was  about  the  same  number. 
The  Russians  began  to  fall  back  on  Alashkirt,  closely  pursued  by 
the  Turks,  who  had  been  reinforced. 

On  the  following  day,  the  22d,  Mukhtar  Pasha  again  fought  a 
severe  battle.  The  Russian  cavalry  had  to  be  placed  in  the  entrench- 
ments and  take  the  part  of  infantry,  but  ultimately  the  Turks  drove 
them  out  and  pursued  them,  the  Russians  being  routed  and  retreating 
in  disorder  as  far  as  Seidekan.  The  whole  of  the  fighting  lasted 
thirty-three  hours;  the  Turkish  loss  was  upwards  of  two  thousand 
men,  and  the  Russian  losses  were  still  heavier. 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA,  481 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
! 

OPERA.TIONS  m  BULGARIA. 

The  crossing  of  the  Danube  at  Simnitza,  which  was  begun  on  the 
morning  of  Wednesday,  June  27th,  was  kept  up  all  day  and  through 
the  night,  the  troops  crossing  as  quickly  as  circumstances  would 
permit.  The  number  of  boats  was  augmented  in  the  course  of  the 
day  to  about  three  hundred.  General  Dragimiroff  followed  up  the 
retiring  Turkish  infantry,  who  fell  back  in  the  direction  of  Rustchuk. 
Their  rear  maintained  a  desultory  skirmish  till  the  summit  of  the 
heights  was  reached,  and  then  they  ran  for  it,  pursued  for  a  short 
distance  by  the  Russians,  both  infantry  and  Cossacks,  the  latter  being 
in  but  scanty  numbers.  Just  as  night  fell  General  Dragimiroff  brought 
up  a  battery  of  horse  artillery  in  pursuit,  which  kept  up  a  brisk  fire 
for  some  little  time. 

Sistova  was  occupied  on  the  afternoon  of  the  27th.  A  detachment 
of  Cossacks  wound  up  the  glen  of  Jerkir  Dere,  at  the  mouth  of  which 
was  the  landing-place.  It  then  inclined  to  the  right,  scouting  along 
the  footpaths,  among  the  fields  and  gardens,  poking  its  way  cautiously 
along.  The  strongest  detachment  crept  cautiously  westward  on  Sis- 
tova ;  the  leading  files  first  peered  into  the  shattered  earthwork,  where 
two  dismounted  field  guns  were  found,  and  then  gradually  felt  their 
way  into  the  town,  peering  around  the  corners  of  the  streets,  and 
patrolling  onward  by  twos  and  threes,  until,  with  infinite  patient 
circumspection,  they  had  gone  through  the  whole  place.  Some  few 
houses  which  presented  a  suspicious  aspect  were  entered. 

Between  the  period  of  the  flight  of  the  Turks  and  the  entry  of  the 
Russian  troops,  the  Bulgarians  sacked  and  wrecked  the  Turkish  houses 
without  a  single  exception.  The  pillage  and  destruction  were  as 
sweeping  and  universal  as  if  the  place  had  been  sacked  by  a  victorious 
army  after  storming.  There  was  not  a  whole  pane  of  glass  in  the 
window  of  any  Turkish  house  in  all  Sistova.  The  wrecked  interiors 
presented  an  indescribable  chaos  of  destruction.  Cupboards  were 
smashed,  floors  torn  up,  shelves  torn  down,  stoves  broken,  in  search  of 
secreted  money.     The  floors  were  strewn  with  miscellaneous  debris  and 


482  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

torn  books  printed  in  curious  characters.  Judging  from  the  number 
of  these  in  the  better  houses,  the  wealthier  Turks  of  Sistova  seemed 
to  have  been  a  reading  people.  The  furniture  was  broken  in  sheer 
wantonness,  and  the  plaster  shattered.  The  divans  were  broken  up ; 
in  fine,  the  ruin  was  thorough  and  universal  so  far  as  the  interiors  of 
the  houses  were  concerned. 

Nor  was  the  destruction  confined  to  the  habitations.  There  were 
eight  mosques  in  Sistova,  and  all  were  wrecked ;  their  interiors  were 
scenes  of  indescribable  destruction.  The  veiy  railings  were  broken 
into  small  pieces  as  if  in  the  keen  zest  and  gloating  enjoyment 
of  laying  waste.  The  few  Turkish  shops  and  stores  in  Sistova  were 
pillaged  of  everything  valuable,  and  the  fixtures  of  the  interiors 
were  smashed  into  fragments  and  splinters.  Nothing  in  the  place 
escaped  wreck,  and  the  aspect  of  uninjured  dwellings  intermingled 
with  others  reduced  to  the  extremity  of  dilapidation,  was  strange  and 
significant. 

The  proceedings  of  the  crossing  were ,  temporarily  interrupted  by 
the  sudden  appearance  of  a  monitor  steaming  slowly  up  the  stream. 
It  appears  that  she  worked  her  way  out  through  the  lov.'cr  end  of  the 
channel  behind  the  island  of  East  Mardim,  and  had  run  the  risk  of 
torpedoes.  Puffs  of  smoke  arose  from  the  Russian  field  battery  oppo- 
site the  western  end  of  that  island,  and  more  distant  reports  betokened 
the  return  fire  of  the  monitor.  She  passed  the  battery,  taking  its  fire 
in  so  doing.  This  lasted  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  There  was  a 
general  rush  back  from  the  water's  edge  to  the  pontoon  wagons.  The 
infantry  waiting  to  cross  fell  back  for  cover  into  the  willows.  The 
columns  leaving  Simnitza  reversed  their  march,  and  there  was  some- 
thing like  a  stampede  of  the  baggage  wagons.  The  bridge  had  already 
been  begun,  and  it  was  felt  that  the  monitor  might  do  infinite  harm. 
Her  smoke  drew  nearer  as  she  slowly  steamed  up  the  stream  until  at 
length  she  was  in  the  same  reach  as  the  crossing-place.  There  she 
stopped,  and  there  she  supinely  waited  for  nearly  two  hours,  neither 
moving  nor  firing  a  shot.  The  Russians  made  no  attempt  to  dislodge 
her,  so  far  as  was  apparent,  but  she  inexplicably  withdrew  of  her  own 
accord,  steaming  away  slowly  down  the  river. 

Continuing  their  advance  from  Sistova,  the  Russians  came  upon 
Biela,  a  village  about  twenty  miles  from  that  place,  in  a  southeasterly 
direction.     Here  the  Turks  were  concentrated  in  great  force,  and  a 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


48$ 


Europeans  Starting  for  a  Ministerial  Ball  in  Constantinople. 


terrible  battle  began  on  Saturday,  June  30tli.  Both  sides  fought  as 
if  the  whole  campaign  had  depended  on  the  issue  of  the  engagement. 

The  Ottoman  General  had  employed  the  time  at  his  command  in 
taking  measures  for  a  most  determined  stand,  and  using  the  forces  at 
his  disposal  to  the  best  possible  advantage. 

The  Russians  began  the  attack  with  great  impetuosity,  but  from 
the  first  the  Turkish  artillery  made  fearful  havoc  in  their  ranks. 
The  Ottoman  infantry  also  fought  with  conspicuous  bravery,  and  in 
the  end  the  invading  columns,  unable  to  withstand  the  onslaught  of 
the  defending  forces,  retreated,  leaving  the  ground  covered  with  the 
dead  and  dying. 

On  Monday  the  Russians  made  a  second  attack  on  Biela,  where 
EchrefF  Pasha  held  the  bridge  across  the  Yantra,  with  troops  from 
Rustchuk. 

The  Russians  endeavored  to  cover  the  movements  of  their  infantry 
by  a  heavy  artillery  fire.  Anticipating  the  intention  of  their  assail- 
ants, the  Tui'ks  reserved  their  fire,  replying  but  slowly  with  artillery. 


484  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

Presently,  the  Muscovite  infantry  advanced  to  the  assault,  availing 
themselves  of  every  spot  of  shelter  till  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
bridge,  when  they  suddenly  developed  their  attack  with  a  heavy 
musketry  fire.  The  Turks,  Avho  were  posted  behind  well-constructed 
semi-circular  trenches,  commanding  the  bridge  and  its  approaches, 
now  opened  at  short  range — not  over  three  hundred  yards — a  vigorous 
and  sustained  infantry  fusilade,  well  supported  by  their  batteries. 

Although  suffering  severely  from  the  concentrated  fire  with  which 
they  were  met,  the  Russians  moved  steadily  forward,  the  gaps  in  their 
ranks  being  quickly  filled  up,  replying  with  file  volleys — their  dogged 
determination  reminding  one  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the  Crimean  War. 
They  evidently  meant  to  make  a  large  sacrifice  in  order  to  achieve 
victory. 

Immovably  the  Ottomans  received  the  assault.  Their  steady  fire 
at  so  short  a  range,  and  being  so  well  entrenched,  proved  too  much 
for  the  attacking  force,  which  ultimately  wavered  and  commenced  to 
fall  back.  The  Turks  then  assumed  the  ofiensive,  and  emerging  from 
their  trenches  moved  briskly  with  the  bayonet  on  the  retreating 
enemy,  but  being  well  controlled,  they  did  not  continue  the  pursuit 
very  far,  and  returned  to  their  former  positions. 

Night  arriving,  the  Russians  retired  from  Biela,  taking  the  high- 
ground  paths  in  the  direction  of  Tirnova,  their  flank  being  enveloped 
in  clouds  of  Cossacks,  scouting  and  signalling. 

On  the  8th  of  the  following  month  a  body  of  cavalry  and  a  battery 
of  horse  artillery  appeared  at  Tirnova,  surprised  the  defenders,  and 
captured  the  Turkish  camp,  with  the  ammunition  and  baggage.  The 
garrison  consisted  of  three  thousand  regular  Turkish  infantry,  and  a 
battery  with  an  unknown  number  of  militia,  who  fell  back  upon 
Osman  Bazar,  in  the  direction  of  Schumla.  Four  days  after,  the 
Grand  Duke  arrived,  with  the  Eighth  corps,  and  the  town  was  for- 
mally occupied  by  the  Russians.  The  march  from  Sistova  was  rather 
like  a  military  promenade  or  a  triumphal  procession  than  a  forced 
march,  which  it  really  was.  Everywhere  the  people  came  out,  with 
the  most  friendly  greetings.  At  the  entrance  of  many  of  the  villages, 
arches  were  erected,  covered  with  leaves  and  flowers.  Processions, 
headed  by  priests,  came  out  singing  to  meet  the  troops,  with  pictures 
from  the  churches,  standards,  and  banners,  while  in  every  direction 
there  were  deafening  cheers,  and  the  most  extravagant  joy. 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA.  485 

Simultaneously  with  the  march  to  Tirnova,  a  division  of  the  Ninth 
Corps,  which  with  the  Eighth  Corps  and  the  Bulgarian  Legion 
formed  the  army  under  the  immediate  command  of  the  Grand  Duke 
Nicholas,  moved  from  Sistova  towards  Nicopolis,  it  being  understood 
that  when  it  had  taken  the  latter  town  it  would  move  southwards  and 
advance  towards  the  Balkans  via  Plevna,  when  it  could  either  follow 
the  Eighth  Corps  through  Tirnova,  or  advance  by  the  Lovatz  Pass  to 
Tatar  Bazardjik  and  Philippopolis,  The  troops  sent  to  Nicopolis 
arrived  on  the  heights  above  that  town  on  Sunday,  July  15th.  After 
a  bombardment  which  lasted  from  five  in  the  morning  until  nine  at 
night,  the  Russians  succeeded  in  gaining  the  fortress,  and  the  Turks 
surrendered,  their  garrison  consisting  of  six  thousand  men  under 
command  of  Achmed  Pasha  and  Hassan  Pasha. 

At  Plevna  occurred  the  only  serious  reverse  the  Russians  had 
encountered  in  the  European  campaign,  but  it  was  very  serious,  and 
as  an  aggravation  it  occurred  through  neglect  of  common  military 
precautions. 

"When  the  commander  of  the  Ninth  Corps  proceeded  against  Nico- 
polis he  made  the  omission  of  not  protecting  his  flank  by  sending 
cavalry  to  occupy  Plevna,  then  only  weakly  held.  Afterwards  an 
easy  chance  did  not  offer.  The  Turkish  column  from  Widdin,  march- 
ing too  late  to  succor  Nicopolis,  turned  aside  and  occupied  Plevna. 
With  intent  to  repair  the  blunder  General  Kriidener  sent  three 
regiments  of  infantry  against  Plevna  and  without  a  previous  recon- 
noissance.  These,  after  hard  fighting,  actually  occupied  the  town,  on 
the  20th  of  July.  They  had  laid  aside  their  cloaks  and  packs  in 
the  streets,  and  had  quitted  the  fighting  column  formation,  believing 
all  was  over,  and  were  singing  as  they  straggled  along.  No  patrols 
had  been  pushed  into  the  recesses  of  the  town.  No  cavalry  had  been 
sent  forward  beyond.     The  whole  business  was  slovenly  to  a  degree. 

The  penalty  was  paid.  Suddenly,  from  a  hundred  windows  and 
balconies,  a  vehement  fire  was  poured  into  the  troops  straggling  along 
the  streets.  They  were  beset  on  all  sides,  and  had  to  retreat.  One 
regiment  left  its  packs  where  they  had  been  taken  off  in  the  street. 
During  the  retreat,  more  or  less  precipitate,  about  two  thousand  nine 
hundred  men  were  lost.     One  regiment  lost  nearly  two  thousand  men. 

On  the  twenty-second.  Prince  Schackoskoy  received  orders  to  leave 
in  position  at  Osman  Bazar  two  infantry  brigades,  and  march  on 


486  OPERATIONS  IJV  BULGARIA. 

Plevna,  right  across  the  theatre  of  war  from  east  to  west,  with  one 
cavalry  brigade  and  one  infantry  brigade  of  his  corps.  The  Thirtieth 
Division  of  the  Fourth  Corps,  whd  were  crossing  the  river  at  Simnitza, 
en  route  for  Tirnova,  were  ordered  on  Plevna  to  stand  under  Schac- 
koskoy's  orders ;  and  the  Ninth  Corps,  about  and  in  front  of  Nicopolis, 
was  also  ordered  to  cooperate  in  a  combined  movement  against  Plevna. 

Plevna  was  reported  to  be  occuj)ied  by  the  whole  of  Osman  Pasha's 
army  from  Widdin,  strengthened  by  troops  from  Sophia,  in  all  believed 
to  be  from  thirty-five  thousand  to  forty  thousand  men.  Their  en- 
trenchment line  ran  through  a  series  of  villages  lying  in  a  semi-circular 
order  round  Plevna,  at  a  distance  from  it  of  about  five  miles,  and 
touching  the  river  Vid  on  both  flanks.  A  strong  Turkish  advance 
force  was  reported  at  Grivitza  on  the  road  along  Avhich  lay  Schack- 
oskoy's  line  of  advance.  From  north  to  south  the  villages  of  tlie 
Turkish  forepost  j^osition  were  as  follows :  Plizitza,  Bukova,  Radisovo, 
Turcirici,  and  Bogot. 

Schackoskoy  was,  as  we  have  said,  in  the  village  of  Karajac  Bul- 
garski.  His  brother  corps  commander.  Baron  Krvidener,  was  for  the 
night  in  the  village  of  Kalisovil,  on  the  road  from  Nicopolis  to  Plevna, 
and  about  eight  miles  northwest  of  Schackoskoy's  headquarters.  As 
senior.  General  Kriidencr  was  nominally  in  chief  command  of  the 
whole  operations,  but  he  acted  under  instructions  from  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  in  Tirnova. 

In  the  night  of  the  28th  the  younger  general  Skobeloff  reached 
Prince  Schackoskoy's  headquarters  from  Tirnova,  appointed  to  the 
temporary  command  of  the  Cossack  Brigade,  in  the  force  of  the 
Prince.  He  received  instructions  to  march  his  brigade  to  the  south- 
ward, and  occupy,  if  possible,  the  town  of  Loftcha,  an  important  posi- 
tion between  Plevna  and  the  Balkans — a  hazardous  expedition,  con- 
ducted along  the  face  of  a  hostile  front,  and  likely  to  meet  with 
resisti^nce  en  route,  and  also  at  the  point  of  destination.  But  SkobelolT 
galloped  off  with  a  light  heart  on  this  dangerous  duty. 

On  the  morning  of  the  29th  Prince  Schackoskoy  quitted  Karajac 
Bugarsky,  and  made  a  reconnoissance  along  the  road  towards  Plevna, 
in  the  direction  of  Grivitza,  where  the  Russians  killed  in  the  previous 
attempt  still  lay  unburied.  His  march  lay  over  beautiful  grassy 
downs  and  through  little  wooded  valleys.  The  Turks  were  not  seen, 
but  cannon  fire  was  heard  to  the  south  in  the  direction  of  the  march  of 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


487 


Apollon  Ernestovitch  Zimmerman. 


Skobeloff  on  Loftcba.  Retracing  his  steps,  and  bending  to  the  south- 
ward Scbackoskoy  bivouacked  for  the  day  on  a  plain  near  the  village 
of  Po'rdin,  with  a  brigade  of  infantry  in  front.     The  Russian  front  was 


488  OPERA  TIONS  IN  B UL  GARIA. 

thus  widely  extended,  aiming  at  a  concentric  attack  on  the  Plevna 
position,  and  including  an  attempt  at  "wholly  enveloping  the  Turkish 
position  by  cavalry  operating  on  both  flanks. 

The  night  between  the  29th  and  30th  was  spent  with  tents  struck  and 
horses  saddled,  waiting  for  the  order  to  advance,  in  anticipation  of  the 
commencement  of  fighting  at  sunrise;  but  Baron  Kriidener  had  deter- 
mined to  wait  yet  a  day  longer  to  perfect  his  dispositions  and  give  the 
troops,  fatigued  by  severe  marching,  some  rest.  The  30  th  was  therefore 
spent  in  inaction,  except  that  the  troops  were  somewhat  drawn  forward 
to  be  within  striking  distance  for  the  morrow.  Tidings  came  that  no 
more  Turkish  troops  were  marching  from  Plevna  on  Loftcha,  which 
simplified  matters,  since  fewer  troops  were  required  to  watch  the 
latter  place.  A  general  council  of  war  was  held  at  Pordin  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  30th,  at  which  were  present  Baron  Kriidener,  Prince 
Schackoskoy,  and  the  generals  of  divisions  and  brigades.  The  colonels 
of  regiments  and  staff  officers  waited  to  receive  instrctions  as  to  the  final 
dispositions.  It  was  settled  that  the  action  should  begin  next  morning 
at  five  o'clock  by  a  general  concentric  advance  on  the  Turkish  positions 
in  front  of  Plevna,  and  that  Prince  Schackoskoy  and  the  general  stafl[ 
should  move  forward  at  four  o'clock.  Several  aides  of  the  Grand 
Duke  Nicholas  arrived,  and  were  detailed  to  various  points  to  make 
observations,  and  after  the  battle  to  carry  reports  of  the  results  back 
to  Tirnova.  The  gravity  of  the  task  before  the  army  was  fully 
recognized,  for  reconnoissances  had  proved  the  Turks  to  be  in  greater 
force  than  was  at  first  believed.  Twenty  thousand  regulars  had  come 
from  Widdin.  The  Tui*kish  positions  were  known  to  be  strong  by 
nature,  and  strengthened  yet  further  by  art. 

The  night  between  the  30th  and  31st  was  very  wet,  and  troops  did 
not  begin  to  march  forward  before  six  instead  of  four.  The  number 
of  infantry  combatants  Avas  actually  about  thirty-two  thousand,  with 
one  hundred  and  sixty  field  cannon  and  three  brigades  of  cavalry. 
Baron  Kriidener  was  on  the  right  with  the  whole  of  the  Thirty-first 
Division  in  his  figliting  line,  and  three  regiments  of  the  Fifth  Division 
in  reserve  at  Karajac  Bugarsky.  He  was  to  attack  in  two  columns, 
a  brigade  in  each.  On  the  left  was  Schackoskoy  with  a  brigade  of 
the  Thirty-second  Division  and  a  brigade  of  the  Thirtieth  Division  in 
fighting  line.  Another  brigade  of  the  Thirtieth  Division  was  in 
reserve  at  Pelisat.     The  Turkish  position  was  convex,  somewhat  in  a 


OPERATIONS  /V  BULGARIA.  489 

horseshoe  shape,  but  more  pointed.  Baron  Kriideuer  was  to  attack 
the  Turkish  left  flank  from  Grivitza  toward  the  river  Vid.  Schac- 
koskoy  was  to  assail  their  right  from  Radisovo,  also  toward  the  river 
Vid.  On  the  left  flank  of  the  attack  stood  Skobeloff",  with  a  brigade 
of  Cossacks,  a  battalion  of  infantry,  and  a  battery,  to  cope  with  the 
Turkish  troops  on  the  line  from  Plevna  to  Loftcha,  and  hindering  them 
from  interfering  with  the  develojiment  of  Schackoskoy's  attack.  On 
the  right  flank  stood  LascarofF,  with  two  cavalry  regiments  to  guard 
Kriidener  from  a  counter  attack. 

The  morning  was  gloomy,  which  the  Russians  regarded  as  a  favor- 
able omen.  The  troops  cheered  vigorously  as  they  passed  the  General. 
Physically  there  seemed  no  finer  men  in  the  world.  In  the  pink  of 
hard  condition,  and  marching  without  packs,  carrying  only  great 
coat,  haversack  with  rations,  and  ammunition,  they  seemed  fit  to  go 
anywhere  and  do  anything.  Schackoskoy's  right  column  marched 
over  Pelisot  and  Sgalievica.  The  left  column  headed  straight  for 
Radisovo.  The  artillery  pushed  forward  from  the  first,  and  worked 
independently. 

Kriidener,  on  the  right,  opened  the  action  at  half-past  nine,  bringing 
a  battery  into  fire  from  the  ridge  on  the  Turkish  earthwork  above  the 
village.  At  first  it  seemed  as  if  the  Turks  were  surprised.  It  was 
some  time  before  they  replied,  but  then  they  did  so  vigorously,  and 
gave  quite  as  good  as  they  got  from  Kriidener. 

The  objective  of  Prince  Schackoskoy  was  in  the  first  instance  Radi- 
sovo. This  village  lies  in  a  deep  valley  behind  the  southern  ridge  of 
the  Turkish  position,  and  there  is  another  ridge  behind  this  valley. 
On  that  ridge  the  cannon,  placed  by  Colonel  Bischofsky,  chief  of 
Prince  Schackoskoy's  staflf",  fired  in  line  on  the  Turkish  guns  on  the 
ridge  beyond  the  valley,  with  fine  eff*ect.  The  infantry  went  down 
into  the  valley  under  this  covering  fire,  and  carried  Radisovo  with  a 
trivial  skirmish,  for  in  the  village  there  were  only  a  handful  of  Bashi- 
Bazouks,  who,  standing  their  ground,  were  promptly  bayoneted.  The 
infantry  remained  under  cover  of  the  village. 

The  Ijatteries,  firing  with  great  rapidity  and  accuracy,  soon  com- 
pelled the  Turkish  cannon  to  quit  the  opposite  height.  During  the 
last  spurt  of  their  firing  Prince  Schackoskoy  rode  along  the  rear  of 
the  batteries,  from  the  right  to  the  left,  under  a  fire  which  killed  two 
horses  in  the  little  group  accompanying  him.     The  cannon  playing  on 


490  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

the  Turkish  guns  on  the  opposite  ridge  quelled  their  fire  after  about 
half-au-hour's  cannonade,  and  it  was  then  for  the  Russian  batteries  to 
cross  the  valley  passing  through  Radisovo  and  come  into  action  in  the 
position  vacated  by  the  Turkish  guns ;  and  following  them  the  infantry 
also  descended  into  the  hollow,  and  lay  doAvn  in  the  glades  about  the 
village,  and  on  the  steep  slope  behind  the  guns  in  action. 

There  were  now  five  batteries  ranged  along  the  crest  of  the  ridge 
beyond  Radisovo,  directing  a  converging  fire  on  the  Turkish  guns  on 
the  central  ridge  beyond.  In  their  exposed  position  their  fire  was 
notwithstanding  heavy  and  steady.  The  stafi"  awaited  the  result  of 
the  i^reparatory  cannonade  on  the  ridge  behind  Radisovo.  Looking 
down  into  the  Turkish  positions,  there  could  be  seen  four  batteries 
defending  the  earthwork  about  the  little  village  which  seemed  to  be 
the  foremost  of  their  fixed  and  constructed  positions  on  the  central 
ridge.  It  stood  on  a  little  knoll,  and  was  well  placed  for  searching 
with  its  fire  the  valleys  by  which  it  could  be  approached,  Bcvond 
were  more,  and  yet  more  earthworks  right  to  the  edge  of  the  broad 
valley,  where  the  roofs  and  church  towers  of  Plevna  sparkled  in  the 
sunshine  from  out  a  circle  of  verdure.  The  place  had  an  aspect  of 
serenity  strangely  contrasting  with  the  turmoil  of  the  cannon  fire 
raging  in  front  of  it. 

By  one  o'clock  the  Russian  infantry  had  nowhere  been  engaged. 
The  operations  hitherto  were  confined  to  the  artillery,  Kriidener  on 
the  right  flank  had  scarcely  progressed  at  all,  and  his  cooperation  in 
a  simultaneously  combined  attack  on  both  flanks  was  indispensable. 
It  would  have  been  fortunate  if  Schackoskoy  had  acted  on  a  full 
recognition  of  this  fact,  which  the  obvious  strength  of  the  Turkish 
positions  should  have  impressed  on  him,  Kriidener  had  gained  much 
less  ground  than  he.  He  seemed  little  further  forward  than  at  the 
commencement,  whereas  Schackoskoy  was  at  comparatively  close 
quarters,  and  within  striking  distance.  Kriidener  was  behind,  either 
because  his  attack  was  not  pushed  energetically,  or  because  he  was 
encountering  obstacles  with  which  Schackoskoy  had  not  met.  The 
latter,  in  his  impatience,  determined  to  act  independently,  and  strike 
the  Turks  single-handed.  Fearful  was  the  retribution  exacted  for 
that  error  of  judgment. 

About  half-past  two  the  second  period  of  the  battle  commenced.  To 
ascertain  Avhcther  the  artillery  had  sufiiciently  prepared  the  way  for 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


491 


Preparing  to  Bridge  the  Danube  from  Widdin  to  Kalafat. 

the  infantry  to  act,  Scliackoskoy  and  his  staff  rode  on  to  the  ridge 
where  the  batteries  were  firing,  and  had  to  dismount  precipitately 
under  a  hurricane  of  shell  fire  which  the  Turkish  gunners  directed 
against  the  little  group.  A  long  and  anxious  inspection  seemed  to 
satisfy  Schackoskoy  and  the  chief  of  his  staff  that  the  time  had  come 
when  the  infantry  could  strike  with  effect. 

Two  brigades  of  infantry  were  in  the  Radisovo  valley,  behind  the 
guns  of  General  Tchekoff's  brigade.  The  leading  battalions  were 
ordered  to  rise  up  and  advance  over  the  ridge  to  attack.  The  order 
was  hailed  with  glad  cheers,  for  the  infantrymen  had  been  chafing  at 
their  inaction,  and  the  battalions,  with  a  swift,  swinging  step,  streamed 
forward  through  the  glen  and  up  the  steep  slope  behind,  marching  in 
company  columns,  the  rifle  companies  leading.  The  artillery  had 
heralded  this  movement  with  increased  rapidity  of  fire,  which  was 
maintained  to  cover  and  aid  the  infantry  when  the  latter  had  crossed 
the  crest  and  were  descending  the  slope  and  crossing  the  intervening 
valley  to  the  assault  of  the  Turkish  position.  Just  before  reaching 
the  crest  the  battalions  deployed  into  line  at  the  double,  and  crossed 
it  in  this  formation,  breakmg  to  pass  through  the  intervals  between 


492  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

the  guns.  The  Turkish  shells  whistled  through  them  as  they  ad- 
vanced in  line,  and  the  men  were  already  down  in  numbers,  but  the 
long  undulating  line  tramps  steadily  over  the  stubble,  and  crashes 
through  the  undergrowth  on  the  descent  beyond.  No  skirmishing 
line  is  thrown  out  in  advance;  the  fighting  line  remains  the  formation 
for  a  time,  till  what  with  impatience  and  what  with  men  falling  it 
breaks  into  a  ragged  spray  of  humanity,  and  surges  on  swiftly,  loosely, 
and  with  no  close  cohesion.  The  supports  are  close  up,  and  run  up 
into  fighting  line  independently  and  eagerly.  It  is  a  veritable  chase 
of  fighting  men  impelled  by  a  burning  desire  to  get  forward  and  come 
to  close  quarters  Avith  the  enemy  firing  at  them  there  from  behind  the 
shelter  of  the  epaulcment. 

Presently  all  along  the  face  of  the  advancing  infantrymen  burst 
forth  flaring  volleys  of  musketry  fire.  The  jagged  line  springs  onward 
through  the  maize  fields,  gradually  assuming  a  concave  shape.  The 
Turkish  position  is  neared;  the  roll  of  rifle  fire  is  incessant,  yet 
dominated  by  the  fiercer  and  louder  turmoil  of  the  artillery  above. 
The  ammunition  wagons  gallop  up  to  the  cannon  with  fresh  fuel  for 
the  fire;  the  guns  redouble  the  energy  of  their  firing;  the  crackle  of 
the  musketry  fire  rises  into  a  sharp  peal;  the  clamor  of  the  hurrahs  of 
the  fighting  men  makes  the  blood  tingle  with  the  excitement  of  the 
fray.  A  village  is  blazing  on  the  left;  the  fell  fury  of  the  battle  has 
eutered  on  its  maddest  paroxyism.  The  supports  that  had  remained 
behind  lying  just  under  the  crest  of  the  slope  are  pushed  forward  over 
the  brow  of  the  hill.  The  wounded  begin  to  trickle  back  over  the 
ridge ;  the  dead  and  the  more  severely  wounded  are  seen  lying  where 
they  fall  on  the  stubble  and  amid  the  maize.  The  living  Avave  of 
fighting  men  is  pouring  over  them  ever  on  and  on. 

The  gallant  gunners  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  stand  to  their  work 
with  a  will.  On  the  shell-swept  ridge  the  Turkish  cannon  fire  begins 
,to  waver.  In  that  earthwork  over  yonder  more  supports  stream  down 
with  a  louder  cheer  into  the  Russian  fighting  line. 

Suddenly  the  disconnected  men  are  together.  The  officers  are 
signalling  for  the  concentration  by  the  Avaving  of  their  SAVords.  The 
distance  is  about  a  hundred  yards.  There  is  a  Avild  rush,  headed 
by  the  colonel  of  one  of  the  regiments  of  the  Thirty-second  Division. 
The  Turks  in  the  shelter  trench  hold  their  ground,  and  fire  steadily, 
and  Avith  terrible  eflfect,  into  the  advancing  forces.    The  colonel's  horse 


OPERATIONS  IiV  BULGARIA.  493 

goes  down,  but  the  colonel  is  on  his  feet  in  a  second,  and  waving  his 
sword,  leads  his  men  forward  on  foot.  But  only  for  a  few  paces.  He 
staggers  and  falls  dead. 

Now  is  heard  the  sound  of  wrath,  half  howl,  half  yell,  with  which 
his  men,  bayonets  at  the  charge,  rush  on  to  avenge  him.  They  are 
over  the  parapet  and  shelter  trench,  and  in  among  the  Turks  like  an 
avalanche.  Not  many  Turks  get  a  chance  to  run  away  from  the 
gleaming  bayonets,  swayed  by  muscular  Eussian  arms.  The  outer 
edge  of  the  first  position  is  won.  The  Russians  are  bad  skirmishers ; 
they  despise  cover,  and  give  and  take  fire  out  in  the  open.  They  dis- 
dained to  utilize  against  the  main  position,  the  cover  afforded  by  the 
parapet  of  this  shelter  trench,  but  pushed  on  in  broken  order  up  the 
bare  slope.  In  places  they  hung  a  little,  for  the  infantry  fire  from  the 
Turks  was  very  deadly,  and  the  slope  was  strewn  with  the  fallen  dead 
9,nd  wounded;  but  for  the  most  part  they  advanced  nimbly  enough. 
Yet  it  took  them  half  an  hour  from  the  shelter  trench  before  they 
again  converged  and  made  their  final  rush  at  the  main  earthwork. 

This  time  the  Turks  did  not  wait  for  the  bayonet  points,  but  with 
one  final  volley  abandoned  the  work.  Their  huddled  mass  could  be 
seen  in  the  gardens  and  vineyards  behind  the  position,  cramming  the 
narrow  track  between  the  trees  to  gain  the  shelter  of  their  batteries  in 
the  rear  of  the  second  position. 

So  fell  the  first  position  of  the  Turks.  Being  a  village,  it  afforded 
ample  cover,  and  Schackoskoy  would  have  acted  wisely  had  he  been 
content  to  hold  it  and  strengthen  it  till  Kriidener,  on  his  right,  should 
have  carried  the  Grivitza  earthwork,  and  come  up  in  line  with  him. 
But  the  Grand  Cross  of  Saint  George  dangled  before  his  eyes,  and 
tempted  him  to  rashness. 

Kriidener  was  clearly  jammed.  The  Turks  were  fighting  furiously, 
and  were  in  unexpected  force  on  that  broad  central  ridge  of  theirs  as 
well  as  against  Kriidener.  The  first  position  in  natural  as  in  artificial 
strength  was  child's  play  to  the  grim  starkness  of  the  second  on  that 
isolated  maraelon ;  there  with  the  batteries  on  the  swell  behind  it. 
But  Schackoskoy  determined  to  go  for  it,  and  his  troops  were  not 
the  men  to  baulk  hira. 

Schackoskoy  kept  liis  finger  well  on  the  throbbing  pulse  of  battle. 
Just  in  the  nick  of  time  half  his  reserve  brigades  were  thrown  into 
the  fight  while  the  other  half  took  part  in  the  attack  more  on  the 
left  flank. 


494 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


The  Grand  DriCE  Nicholas, 

In  the  Costume  of  a  Circassian  Chief,  and  attendant  Wallachian  Girl. 

The  new  blood  tells  at  once.  There  is  a  move  forward,  and  no  more 
standing  and  craning  over  the  fence.  The  Turks  in  the  flank  earth- 
work are  reinforced.  All  of  a  sudden  the  white  smoke  spurts  forth, 
and  swarms  of  dark-clothed  men  are  scraml)ling  on.  There  is  evidently 
a  short  but  sharp  struggle.     Then  a  swariu  of  men  are  seen  flying 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA.  495 

across  the  green  of  the  vineyard.  But  they  dont  go  far,  and  prowl 
around  the  western  and  northern  faces  of  the  work,  rendering  its 
occupation  very  precarious.  The  Turkish  cannon  from  behind  drops 
shells  into  it  with  singular  precision. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Russians  occupied  this  the  second  position 
of  the  Turks,  but  never  held  it.  It  was  all  but  empty  for  a  long  time, 
and  continuous  fighting  took  place  about  its  flanks. 

About  six  the  Turks  pressed  forward  a  heavy  mass  of  infantry  for 
its  recapture.  Schackoskoy  took  a  bold  step,  sending  two  batteries 
down  into  the  first  position  he  had  taken  to  keep  them  in  check.  But 
the  Turks  were  not  to  be  denied,  and  in  spite  of  the  most  determined 
fighting  of  the  Russians,  had  reoccupied  their  second  position  before 
seven. 

The  First  Brigade  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Division  had  early  inclined  to 
the  left,  where  the  tower  and  houses  of  Plevna  were  visible.  It  was 
rash,  for  the  brigade  was  exposing  its  right  flank  to  the  Turkish 
cannon  astride  of  the  ridge,  but  the  goal  of  Plevna  was  a  keen  tempta- 
tion. There  was  no  thoroughfare,  however ;  they  would  not  give  up, 
and  they  could  not  succeed;  they  charged  again  and  again,  and  when 
they  could  charge  no  more  from  sheer  fatigue  they  stood  and  died, 
for  they  would  not  retire.  The  resers^es  came  up,  but  only  to  swell  the 
slaughter.  And  then  the  ammunition  failed,  for  the  carts  had  been 
left  far  behind,  and  the  most  sanguine  gave  up  all  hope. 

Two  companies  of  Russian  infantry  did  indeed  work  round  the 
right  flank  of  the  Turkish  works,  and  dodge  into  the  town  of  Plevna, 
but  it  was  like  entering  the  mouth  of  hell.  On  the  heights  all  round, 
the  cannon  smoke  spurted  out,  and  the  vineyard  in  the  rear  of  the 
town  was  alive  with  Turks.  They  left  after  a  very  short  visit,  and 
now  all  hope  of  success  anywhere  was  dead,  nor  did  a  chance  oflTer  to 
make  the  best  of  defeat.  Schackoskoy  had  not  a  man  left  to  cover 
the  retreat.  The  Turks  struck  without  stint;  they  had  the  upper 
hand  for  once,  and  were  determined  to  show  that  they  knew  how  to 
make  the  most  of  it. 

They  advanced  in  swarms  through  the  dusk  on  their  original  first 
position  and  captured  three  Russian  cannons  before  the  batteries  could 
be  withdrawn.  The  Turkish  shells  began  once  more  to  whistle  over 
the  ridge  above  Radisovo  and  fall  into  the  village  behind,  now 
crammed  with  wounded ;  the  streams  of  wounded  wending  their  pain- 


496  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

ful  way  over  the  ridge  were  incessant;  the  badly  wounded  mostly 
lay  where  they  fell.  Later  in  the  darkness  the  Bashi-Bazouli 
swarmed  over  the  battle-field,  and  spared  not.  Lingering  there  on 
the  ridge  till  the  moon  rose,  the  staff  could  hear  from  down  below  on 
the  still  night  air  the  cries  of  pain,  the  entreaties  for  mercy,  and  the 
yells  of  bloodthirsty  fanatical  triumph.  It  was  indeed  an  hour  to 
wring  the  sternest  heart. 

On  the  7th  of  August  another  battle  was  fought  and  won  by 
Osmau  Pasha,  this  time  on  the  road  between  Loftcha  and  Plevna, 
near  the  village  of  Vladina. 

After  his  previous  defeat  of  the  Russians,  Osman  pressed  on  the 
retreating  troops  with  his  cavalry  for  a  considerable  distance,  in  the 
direction  of  the  Yantra. 

On  the  5th  of  August  he  discovered  that  the  Muscovites  had  com- 
menced to  concentrate,  having  received  considerable  reinforcements ; 
and  subsequently  ascertained  that  they  were  again  advancing  to  renew 
the  attack.  Collecting  his  detached  forces,  Osman  Pasha  took  up  a 
strong  position  at  the  place  above  indicated,  and,  having  entrenched 
it,  awaited  the  coming  assault,  his  troops  being  animated  with  the 
utmost  confidence  in  their  chief,  and  eager  for  the  conflict. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  the  wished-for  opportunity  arrived. 
The  Russians  advanced  to  the  assault  in  vast  numbers,  the  Ottoman 
troops  apparently  adopting  the  same  strategy  as  on  the  occasion  of 
their  victory  at  Plevna. 

The  Russians  commenced  the  battle  by  a  heavy  artillery  fire  on  the 
Ottoman  batteries,  to  which  there  was  a  sharp  and  effective  reply. 
For  some  time  this  artillery  duel  was  maintained,  without  advantage 
to  the  Muscovs.  A  simultaneous  movement  on  the  flanks  and  centre 
was  then  developed  by  the  entire  Russian  attacking  force,  their 
infantry  advancing  in  dense  masses  against  the  Turkish  trenches, 
from  which  a  terrible  fire  was  delivered  on  the  Russians. 

Throughout  the  day  a  deadly  fight  was  waged  along  the  whole  line, 
the  Russians  unavailiiigly  endeavoring  to  dislodge  the  defenders  of  the 
position  so  well  selected  by  Osman  Pasha.  Every  renewed  effort  by 
the  Muscovs  resulted  in  terrible  loss  and  defeat. 

At  every  point  the  Ottomans  maintained  their  ground,  fighting  with 
an  obstinacy  and  a  courage  intensified  by  the  recollection  of  their 
recent  success  against  the  same  foe,  and  conscious  of  the  disastrous 
consequences  of  defeat  at  this  supreme  Russian  effort. 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


497 


498  OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 

The  assault  was  made  with  great  determination  and  valor.  Nothing 
but  the  superior  generalship  and  willing  sacrifice  of  the  defenders 
could  have  successfully  resisted  the  tremendous  onslaughts  of  the 
Russian  infantry,  as  they  advanced  undaunted  and  unflinching  under 
a  fusilade  that  ploughed  their  ranks  with  a  destructiveness  that  was 
appalling. 

Watching  his  opportunity,  Osman  turned  his  defence  into  attack  on 
his  enemy,  which  decided  the  fate  of  the  day,  and  once  more  brought 
him  victory.  The  Russians  were  driven  back  along  the  entire  line, 
leaving  immense  numbers  of  killed  and  wounded  on  the  field. 

While  these  events  were  being  enacted  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Balkans, 
offensive  operations  were  not  neglected  in  the  region  of  the  Danube. 
A  spirited  naval  engagement  took  place  below  Silistria  on  July  21st, 
the  actors  in  which  were  those  who  had  lately  blown  up  a  Turkish 
monitor  with  torpedoes.  The  Turkish  Danube  flotilla,  which  had 
disappeared  from  view  since  the  taking  of  Nicopolis,  had  again  shown 
itself  in  action  with  most  disastrous  results.  In  the  judgment  of  the 
Russian  commander,  the  time  had  come  when  the  operations  of  the 
army  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Danube  might  be  supported  by  the 
very  rudimentary  Russian  fleet  on  the  river.  Accordingly  Lieutenant 
Doubasofi"  went  with  the  steamer  Nicholas  and  two  steam  launches, 
and  opened  fire  on  a  Turkish  camp  fourteen  miles  from  Sili.stria, 
compelling  the  Turks  to  remove  from  that  position.  This  proceeding 
was  as  presumptuous  as  it  was  annoying,  and  the  Turkish  naval 
authorities,  remembering  that  the  late  commander  of  their  flotilla  was 
in  Constantinople  to  answer  inquiries  as  to  his  past  inertness,  sent  a 
monitor  out  to  meet  the  Russians.  The  fifth  shot  from  the  Nicholas, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Maximovitch,  an  ofiicer  of  engineers,  set 
fire  to  the  bridge  of  the  monitor,  but  the  flames  were  extinguished. 
The  tenth  shot  caused  a  more  violent  outbreak  of  fire,  and  the  monitor, 
compelled  to  cease  firing,  approached  the  bank  and  began  disembark- 
ing her  crew,  the  Russians  stimulating  the  process  by  shell-firing.  A 
Turkish  steamer  and  another  monitor  subsequently  arrived  from 
Silistria,  and  as  a  battery  was  also  brought  up  to  the  bank,  the 
Nicholas  and  the  sloops  retired  firing,  having  suffered  no  loss.  On 
the  23d  five  Turkish  steamers  and  two  monitors  went  down  the  river 
from  Rustchuk,  when  the  fire  from  the  heavy  guns  at  Slobosia  set  on 
fire  and  destroyed  three  Turkish  steamers  and  sank  a  fourth.     Thus 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA.  499 

■within  a  few  clays  four  Turkish  steamers  were  destroyed,  and  another 
and  a  monitor  seriously  damaged. 

In  the  meantime  preparations  were  gradually  progressing  for  an 
attack  upon  Rustchuk,  about  sixty  miles  above  Silistria.  The  fortress 
stands  on  a  plateau,  which  rises  abruptly  fifty  to  a  hundred  feet  high 
from  the  river  at  twenty  to  eighty  paces  from  it.  Inclosed  by  a  wall, 
and  in  some  places  by  moats,  it  appears  hai-dly  capable  of  any  great 
resistance;  but  it  is  rendered  unapproachable  in  the  west  by  the  Balta 
(lake)  Mairu,  on  the  Roumanian  bank  of  the  Danube,  which  runs 
here  from  southwest  to  northeast,  and  also  by  the  river  itself  and  its 
tributary,  the  Lorn  (not  to  be  confounded  with  the  river  of  that  name 
in  "West  Bulgaria).  It  can,  therefore,  only  be  attacked  from  the 
northeast  and  south,  where  well-armed  fortifications  were  constructed, 
calculated  to  afibrd  an  obstinate  resistance  to  an  attacking  party.  A 
strong  citadel  serves  to  protect  Rustchuk;  it  commands  the  whole 
town,  the  Danube  with  its  islands,  and  even  the  low-lying  portions  of 
Giurgevo,  on  the  Roumanian  shore. 

After  the  crossing  at  Sistova,  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth  Army 
Corps  were  constituted  into  the  army  of  Rustchuk,  destined  for  the 
siege  of  that  fortress,  with  the  Cesarewitch  as  commander-in-chief. 
General  Camcowsky,  hitherto  chief  of  the  Twelfth  Corps,  was  ap- 
pointed chief  of  staff  to  the  Cesarewitch ;  and  the  Grand  Duke 
Vladimir,  brother  of  the  Cesarewitch,  succeeded  to  the  command  of 
the  Twelfth  Corps,  heading  the  advance  on  Rustchuk.  In  the  early 
part  of  July  its  cavalry  division  was  already  forward  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  fortress,  driving  in  the  outlying  Turks,  and  the  Thirty- third 
Division  marched  forward  soon  after.  The  First  Division  advanced 
nearer  the  Danube  in  a  parallel  line. 

During  the  first  weeks  of  July  the  main  portion  of  the  army  was 
massed  along  the  river  Yantra,  with  headquarters  at  Biela,  with  the 
object  of  holding  in  check  the  Turkish  field  army  extending  from 
Rasgrad  to  Osman  Bazar,  Great  impatience  was  naturally  felt  in 
the  Rustchuk  army  at  this  prolonged  inactivity,  yet  the  policy  of  this 
attitude  was  obvious.  While  two  corps  stood  lining  the  road  of 
advance  on  Tirnova,  an  attempt  to  intercept  that  advance,  or  to 
disturb  its  communications,  could  be  made.  Nor  was  this  all.  The 
Turkish  field  army  could  not  change  its  front  and,  marching  to  its 
left,  move  ofi*  into  the  Balkans  to  interfere  with  the  passage  of  the 


500 


OPERATIONS  IN  BULGARIA. 


Russians  through  the  defiles  without  showing  a  flank,  and,  indeed,  its 
rear,  to  this  threatening  mass  of  men,  purposely  motionless  for  the 
time,  but  ready  to  march  quickly  and  far  when  the  opportunity  for 
doing  good  by  so  doing  should  offer.  The  policy  was  obvious,  but  it 
was  cautious.  It  was  not  in  accord  with  Prince  Frederick  .Charles's 
standing  orders,  "Find  your  enemy,  and  fight  him  whenever  and 
wherever  you  find  him," 

Towards  the  middle  of  July,  the  restriction  against  crossing  the 
Yantra  at  length  gave  way.  The  army  of  Rustchuk  was  ordered  to 
move  on  towards  Rustchuk,  and  the  headquarters  were  moved  to  a 
village  called  Beleova,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Yantra,  about  midway 
between  Biela  and  the  Danube,  the  centre  of  the  new  position  being 
located  about  Domogila,  a  village  seventeen  miles  from  Rustchuk, 
between  the  Yantra  and  the  Lorn. 

By  the  close  of  July  Rustchuk  was  completely  invested,  the  Rus- 
sian army  being  massed  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Black  Lorn,  which 
flows  due  north  and  enters  the  Danube  at  Rustchuk.  The  principal 
concentration  of  this  army  was  near  the  Danube,  but  the  right  flank  of 
its  cavalry  was  at  Polomarka,  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Osman  Bazar, 
and  the  villages  of  the  intervening  space  were  filled  with  troops. 


A  Russian  Ambulance  Train. 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS.  501 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

PASSING  TKE  BALKANS. 

General  Gourko  marched  out  from  Tirnova  on  the  morning  of 
July  12th  at  the  head  of  eight  regiments  of  cavalry  and  six  battalions 
of  the  Tirailleur  brigade.  His  main  body  marched  upon  Elena,  a 
place  southeast  of  Tirnova,  but  it  was  necessary  to  ascertain  how  far 
the  Turkish  concentration,  said  to  exist  about  Osman  Bazar,  was  in 
force,  and  whether  the  alignment  of  the  enemy  was  prolonged  from 
Osman  Bazar  in  a  southerly  direction  through  the  Balkans.  Accord- 
ingly General  Gourko  led  a  cavalry  reconnoissance  on  the  Schumla 
road  in  the  direction  of  Osman  Bazar,  and  pushed  it  home  with 
considerable  determination.  He  learned  that  there  were  some  six 
thousand  Turks  in  the  Osman  Bazar  district,  which,  however,  con- 
stituted the  left  flank  of  the  Turkish  alignment  between  the  Danube 
and  the  Balkans.  Their  position  did  not  prolong  itself  into  the 
mountains,  so  leaving  a  detachment  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  which  had 
followed  him,  to  watch  the  Turkish  position  about  Osmau  Bazar,  he 
coolly  turned  his  back  on  the  Turks  and  headed  due  south  for  the 
Balkans. 

About  Elena  he  picked  up  the  mass  of  his  detachment,  and  in  two 
forced  marches  he  was  in  the  heart  of  the  Balkans,  striking  that 
section  of  the  range  known  as  the  Elena  Balkans.  Through  these 
there  are  three  passes  into  the  Valley  of  the  Tunja,  nearly  parallel 
with  each  other.  One,  which  is  the  central  of  the  three,  is  called  the 
Hanka,  or  Haiukoi  Pass,  from  the  name  of  the  village  at  its  southern 
exit.  The  most  easterly  pass  of  the  three  is  called  the  Zupanci  Mesari 
Pass.  General  Gourko  had  as  guides  the  Christian  inhabitants  of 
the  intricate  valleys  of  the  Balkan  ranges,  who  have  never  wholly 
bowed  to  Turkish  rule.  Led  by  them  with  long-extended  and  swiftly 
stretched-out  arm,  he  clutched  a  grip  of  the  throats  of  these  three 
passes.  Through  each  he  passed  a  detachment,  but  he  himself,  and 
the  mass  of  his  command,  penetrated  the  defile  of  the  Hanka  Pass,  a 
narrow  defile  with  precipitous  rocks  on  either  side,  and  somewhat 
tortuous.    The  gradients  of  the  track  are  surprisingly  easy,  but  the 


502  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

track  was  too  narrow  for  the  wheels  of  the  gun  carriages  and  mountain 
batteries  which  accompanied  the  column.  In  the  most  difficult  part 
of  the  pass  General  Gourko's  eclaireurs  came  on  a  fortified  position 
held  by  a  battalion  of  Turkish  Nizams  who  appeared  taken  utterly  by 
surprise  by  the  sudden  appearance  of  the  Cossacks.  Many  were  killed 
and  wounded,  and  the  Nizams,  who  never  had  recovered  from  the 
confusion  of  the  surprise,  bolted  precipitately. 

Here,  as  in  the  two  other  jDasses,  battery  emplacements  were  found 
in  judiciously-chosen  positions;  but  they  had  remained  unarmed. 
General  Gourko  had  been  too  nimble  for  the  slow-paced,  unmethod- 
ical Turks.  When  they  were  sitting  still  saying  "  Bismillah,"  he  was 
riding  through  their  unarmed  earthworks.  When  General  Gourko 
had  traversed  this  Hanka  Pass  he  found  himself,  as  we  have  stated,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Tunja,  and  he  came  out  of  the  mountain  into  that 
at  a  singularly  advantageous  point,  the  village  of  Esekei,  nearly 
equidistant  from  the  three  important  places,  Kazanlik,  Yeni  Saghra, 
and  Eski  Saghra. 

The  importance  of  Kazanlik  consists  in  being  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Shipka  Pass,  one  of  the  Balkan  thoroughfares  between  Gabrova  and 
Kazanlik.  Yeni  Saghra  is  on  the  branch  railway  to  Yamboli.  Eski 
Saghra  is  quite  beyond  the  Balkans,  on  the  higher  slopes  of  the 
Maritza  Valley,  and  is  the  focus  of  good  roads  leading  to  all  the  points 
of  the  valley. 

General  Gourko  knew  that  reinforcements  were  following  him, 
and  seemingly  believing  in  the  axiom  that  nothing  succeeds  like 
success,  struck  at  all  three  places.  He  sent  a  detachment  of  Cossacks 
to  cut  the  railway  at  Yeni  Saghra.  He  sent  a  small  body  of  cavalry 
to  occupy  Eski  Saghra,  and  collect  transport  materials.  As  for 
Kazanlik,  information  reached  him  that  it  and  the  Shipka  Pass  were 
strongly  held  by  the  Turkish  troops.  Assuming  that  these  belonged 
to  the  same  army  he  had  already  touched  at  Osman-Bazar,  his  march 
had  cut  them  off.  He  had  traversed  the  line  of  communication 
between  them  and  their  main  body.  If  so,  they  would  the  more 
easily  be  dealt  with.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  belonged  to  troops  in 
force  further  west,  or  were  simply  an  independent  command,  the 
daring  wisdom  of  attacking  them  seemed  to  General  Gourko  equally 
obvious.  So,  instead  of  setting  his  face  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
down  into  the  valley,  with  the  glittering  spires  of  Adrianople  as  his 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 


503 


General  Joseph  Vladimirovitch  Gourko. 


504  PASSING   THE  BALKANS. 

objective,  he  turned  westward,  and  marched  up  the  Tunja  Valley  on 
Kazanlik. 

It  was  on  the  14th  that  the  Hanka  Pass  was  forced.  The  Turks 
retreated  westward  on  Konaro,  but  next  day  having  received  rein- 
forcements, they  attacked  General  Gourko's  vanguard,  a  rifle  bat- 
talion, as  the  column  marched  on  Konaro.  After  some  sharp  fighting 
the  Turks  were  repulsed,  Konaro  occupied,  and  two  of  their  camps 
taken. 

On  the  same  day  a  column  of  Cossacks  sent  to  Yeni  Saghra  success- 
fully cut  the  telegraph  and  railway.  Next  day,  the  16th,  General 
Gourko  marched  on  Naglis.  His  troops  formed  in  three  columns, 
some  consisting  of  infantry,  close  to  the  mountains.  The  middle 
column  was  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  the  left  column  cavaliy  only, 
with  orders  to  cover  the  flank,  and  if  possible  to  turn  that  of  the 
enemy.  At  Uflami  he  was  stopped  by  a  strong  position,  and  had  to 
cope  with  the  Turkish  artillery,  cavalry,  and  infantry.  When  he  was 
pushing  them  hard,  five  battalions  of  Anatolian  Nizams  came  up  as 
reinforcements,  and  behaved  very  well.  Their  fire,  begun  as  it  was 
at  two  thousand  paces,  caused  the  Russians  considerable  loss.  The 
Russian  orders  were  not  to  open  fire  till  within  six  hundred  paces  of 
the  enemy,  and  it  was  in  the  interval  that  the  Russians  suffered.  But 
when  their  distance  was  reached  they  poured  in  a  fire  which  soon 
compelled  the  Anatolians  to  yield  the  ground. 

The  Russian  direct  attacking  force  was  four  battalions  of  rifles  and 
two  sotnias  of  infantry  Cossacks,  whom  the  Turks  call  priests,  because 
of  the  cross  they  wear  to  distinguish  them  from  the  Circassian  Turks. 
While  the  direct  attack  was  being  delivered  the  Russian  hussars  and 
dragoons  charged  the  Turkish  flank.  There  was  very  hot  fighting, 
sabre  and  bayonet  both  being  used  freely.  The  Turks  were  at  length 
driven  from  their  position  with  loss.  Four  hundred  were  left  dead  at 
one  point.  The  Turks  fought  very  hard  here,  but  their  defeat  at 
Uflami  seemed  to  destroy  their  morals,  and  subsequently  they  did  not 
fight  so  stoutly. 

On  the  17th  General  Gourko  approached  Kazanlik.  There  was 
terrible  heat,  and  it  was  severe  marching.  The  infantry  waded  into 
little  streams  to  become  soaked  and  so  gain  coolness.  There  was 
fighting  more  or  less  all  day.  On  the  evening  of  the  17th  General 
Gourko  entered  Kazanlik.    The  Turks  had  detailed  from  the  force 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS,  505 

holding  the  Shipka  Pass  a  column  to  occiipy  the  heights  flanking  the 
entrance  to  Kazanlik  and  hinder  General  Gourko's  entrance ;  but  his 
riflemen  were  beforehand  in  occupying  these  heights,  and  the  Turks 
retired  disappointed. 

It  had  been  designed  that  Goui'ko  should  reach  Kazanlik  on  the 
16th,  and  on  the  17th  be  free  to  assail  in  the  rear  the  Turks  holding 
the  Shipka  Pass,  while  Prince  Mirski  with  the  Ninth  Division  attacked 
them  in  front.  But  he  was  delayed  by  hard  fighting,  and  the  troops 
were  too  much  fatigued  to  move  further  on  the  same  day  after  the  oc- 
cupation of  Kazanlik.  So  there  was  no  cooperation  between  General 
Gourko  and  Prince  Mirski  in  attacking  the  Shipka  Pass,  but  the 
latter,  nevertheless,  delivered  an  attack  on  that  position  marching 
southward  from  Gabrova.  He  sent  against  the  Turks  but  one  regi- 
ment, that  of  Orlofi",  which  he  divided  into  three  columns. 

The  pass  was  strongly  fortified  with  six  successive  tiers  of  entrench- 
ments and  batteries,  and  defended  by  picked  Turkish  troops,  Circas- 
sians and  Egyptians.  The  latter  fought  very  hard.  Of  Prince 
Mirski's  three  columns,  that  on  the  right  encountered  little  oppo- 
sition and  went  on  some  distance,  till  it  missed  the  support  of  the 
centre  column,  fought  five  or  six  hours,  and  then  made  good  its 
lodgment  in  the  hostile  line.  The  left  column,  consisting  of  two 
companies,  missed  its  way,  and  was  beset  by  twelve  companies  of 
Turkish  soldiers.  It  fought  a  retreating  combat  for  four  hours  against 
terrible  odds,  losing  eight  officers  killed  and  wounded,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men. 

On  the  18th  General  Gourko,  his  men  refreshed,  advanced  to  the 
attack  of  the  Shipka  position  from  the  rear.  Two  battalions  of  rifles 
formed  his  advance.  As  they  neared  the  rear  of  t"he  position  a  flag 
of  truce  came  out  with  a  Parlementaire.  The  rifles  at  once  halted, 
and  an  officer  acting  as  escort  went  forward  to  meet  the  Parlementaire. 
While  negotiations  were  going  on  the  Russian  riflemen  in  their  curiosity 
quitted  their  extended  formation  and  drew  together  into  a  mass  behind 
where  the  officer  was  communing  with  the  Parlementaire.  Suddenly 
volleys  of  rifle  fire  were  poured  in  upon  them  from  the  Turkish 
position.  The  Parlementaire  took  to  his  heels  at  a  signal  which  the 
Russians  heard  but  did  not  comprehend.  So  sudden  and  fierce  was 
the  fire  that  in  their  two  battalions  the  Russians  lost  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  men  killed  and  wounded  in  a  few  minutes.     The  survivors 


506 


PASSING   THE  BALKANS. 


A  Russian  Military  Supply  Train. 
in  their  fury  waited  for  no  order  to  attack,  nor  regarded  any  forma- 
tion. "With  one  common  impulse  and  with  yells  of  wrath  they  rushed 
on.  It  was  a  bad  quarter  of  an  hour  for  the  Turks ;  but  the  riflemen, 
finding  no  signs  of  cooperation  in  the  attack  from  the  north  by  Prince 
Mirski,  contented  themselves  with  driving  back  the  Turks  some 
distance,  and  occupied  the  abandoned  Turkish  camp  in  the  rear  of 
the  fortifications. 

On  the  same  night,  in  reply  to  General  Gourko's  summons  to  the 
Turks  to  surrender  and  abandon  the  further  unavailing  defence  of  the 
pass,  there  came  a  letter  from  the  Turkish  commander,  Mehemet 
Pasha,  offering  to  surrender.  Negotiations  were  entered  into,  and  the 
hour  for  the  surrender  of  the  Turks  was  fixed  for  twelve  at  noon  the 
next  day.  An  armistice  was  arranged,  and  early  on  that  morning 
the  sanitary  detachments  went  forward  to  bring  in  the  wounded  which 
the  rifle  battalions  had  been  forced  'to  leave  behind.  They  sent  back 
word  that  the  Turks  had  fled  and  vacated  the  position.  The  offer  of 
surrender  was  a  ruse  to  gain  time. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  18th,  Prince  Mirski  had  remained  quiet,  waiting 


PASSING    THE   BALKANS.  507 

for  further  information  about  Gourko's  movements.  But  on  the  19th, 
young  Skobeloff,  taking  some  troops  of  Mirski's,  had  pushed  forward 
a  reeonnoissauce  into  the  pass  from  the  north.  To  his  surprise  he  met 
no  opposition  as  he  passed  line  after  line  of  fortifications,  and  the 
hastily  abandoned  Turkish  camps,  with  fires  yet  lit,  rations  half-cooked, 
and  half-written  telegrams.  At  length  he  reached  the  crest  of  the 
pass,  and  the  view  to  the  south  opened  before  him.  In  a  hoUow  at 
his  feet  ^e  saw  troops  in  camp.  Were  they  Turks  or  Russians  ?  The 
tents  seemed  Turkish,  but  the  soldiers  looked  like  Russians.  Skobelofi 
tried  the  Russian  hurrah  as  a  test,  but  it  was  not  replied  to.  At 
length,  seeing  the  red  cross  flag  of  the  ambulance  staff,  he  knew  that 
the  men  in  the  valley  were  his  own  people,  and  a  junction  was 
immediately  formed. 

The  Turks  had  fled  westward  in  the  direction  of  Hermedji.  General 
Gourko  remained  in  Kazanlik  till  the  Eighth  Corps,  then  occupying 
the  defiles  of  the  Balkans,  had  passed  through  them  and  massed,  with 
supplies,  for  further  progress.  The  road  at  first  was  only  practicable 
for  vehicles  drawn  by  bullocks,  but  large  numbers  of  men  Avere  at 
once  employed  in  improving  it. 

During  the  succeeding  days  the  war  was  carried  by  the  Russians 
ftirther  south  of  the  Balkans,  and  nearer  to  Adrianople.  For  an  ad- 
vance upon  Yeni  Saghra  General  Gourko  organized  a  force  consisting 
of  three  columns,  with  orders  to  converge  at  different  points  on  Yeni 
Saghra,  as  follows:  The  right  column,  consisting  of  the  Bulgarian 
Legion,  two  batteries  of  artillery  and  three  regiments  of  cavalry,  were 
to  march  from  Eski  Saghra;  the  central  column,  under  Gourko 
himself,  consisting  of  the  Rifle  Brigade,  a  regiment  of  Cossacks  and 
four  batteries  of  artillery,  marched  from  Kazanlik;  the  left  column, 
of  five  battalions  of  infantry,  two  batteries  and  some  Cossacks,  marched 
from  Hain  Koi,  the  objective  of  all  three  columns  being  Yeni  Saghra. 
Gourko  marched  from  Kazanlik  on  the  29th  of  July,  a  terrible  march 
of  forty  miles  long.  Nevertheless  his  troops  came  into  action  next 
morning  on  the  left  flank  of  the  Turkish  entrenchments  in  front  of 
the  railway  station  at  Yeni  Saghra  to  support  the  attack  of  the  left 
column  on  their  right  flank.  The  Turks  fought  desperately,  and 
bayonet  fighting  was  long  and  strenuous,  but  after  midday  the  Rus- 
sians forced  the  position,  drove  out  the  Turks,  took  Yeni  Saghra, 
captured  three  guns,  blew  up  the  railway  station,  and  destroyed  an 


508  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

immense  mass  of  Turkish  ammunition  and  stores.  For  want  of  cavalry 
no  pursuit  was  then  possible ;  but  nexC  day  the  Cossacks  fell  on  the 
retreating  Turks.  In  the  afternoon  came  tidings,  by  a  circuitous 
route,  that  the  right  column  was  seriously  compromised  in  an  attempt 
to  force  its  way  from  Eski  Saghra,  and  General  Gourko  determined 
to  march  westward  to  its  succor.  That  night  (the  30th)  he  reached 
Karabunar,  where  he  arrived  in  darkness,  but  the  whole  valley  was 
illuminated  by  blazing  villages.  Next  morning  h|3  marched  onward 
upon  Dzuranli,  on  the  road  to  Eski  Saghra,  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
some  thirty  thousand  Turks  confronted  him  and  stopped  the  road  into 
the  latter  place.  The  Turkish  batteries  swept  the  road  with  persistent 
fire;  nevertheless  General  Gourko  came  into  action,  sending  forward 
five  battalions  of  infantry,  covered  by  artillery.  He  had  forty-eight 
horses  killed  in  one  battery  and  eight  in  another.  Later  the  Turkish 
masses  strove  to  turn  the  Russian  left.  The  operation  was  resisted  by 
the  Tirailleur  Brigade,  supported  by  two  regiments  of  the  Ninth 
Division.  The  attack  was  repelled,  but  with  heavy  fighting.  Still 
later  a  column  of  Circassian  cavalry  strove  to  turn  the  Russian  right 
on  the  mountain  slopes,  and  the  attack  was  succeeding  when  there 
appeared  on  the  scene  Leuchtenberg's  cavalry,  which  had  cut  its  way 
out  from  Eski  Saghra,  and  which  repelled  the  movement  of  the  Cir- 
cassians and  saved  the  right  wing.  General  Gourko  then  bored  on 
forward  and  reached  a  position  which  afforded  him  a  distant  view  of 
Eski  Saghra.  Here  there  came  to  him  an  orderly  who  had  evaded 
the  Turks  and  brought  him  intelligence  that  his  right  column,  con- 
sisting of  the  Bulgarian  legion,  was  beset  in  Eski  Saghra  by  a  force 
of  Turks  estimated  at  twenty  thousand  men.  General  Gourko,  small 
as  was  his  force,  resolved  on  an  attempt  to  succor  them,  and  in  the 
meantime  determined  to  maintain  his  position;  but  his  resolution 
quailed  before  the  appearance  of  two  massive  columns  of  Turks 
marching  on  his  flank  and  rear.  He  had  to  leave  the  Bulgarians  to 
shift  for  themselves,  and  make  good  his  own  retreat  through  the 
difficult  and  narrrow  Dalboda  Pass,  and  thence  through  the  Haiukoi 
Pass,  accomplishing  his  retreat  on  Thursday,  2d  of  August,  amid  cruel 
hardships.  In  the  retreat  the  wounded  died  like  flies  from  jolting  and 
exposure.  Hale  men  succumbed  from  fatigue  and  sunstroke.  As  for 
the  Bulgarian  legion  composing  Gourko's  right  column,  they,  ad- 
vancing from  Eski  Saghra  towards  Karabunar,  found  the  enemy  and 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 


509 


A  Russian  Monitor  on  the  DANirBB. 

were  driven  in.  On  the  31st  of  July,  after  very  hard  fighting,  the 
Bulgarians  had  to  retire  into  the  defile  north  of  Eski  Saghra,  and 
thence  effect  their  retreat  through  the  Shipka  Pass.  Of  the  severity 
of  the  fighting  a  judgment  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  the 
Bulgarian  legion  began  sixteen  hundred  strong.  Between  four  and 
five  hundred  reached  Shipka. 

The  inability  of  General  Gourko  to  hold  Yeni  Saghra  and  Eski 
Saghra  against  the  superior  forces  of  Suleiman  Pasha  foreshadowed 
the  inevitable  result — that  at  the  beginning  of  August  that  officer 
held  no  important  town  south  of  the  Balkans,  and  was  only  master  of 
the  position  before  the  southern  end  of  the  Shipka  Pass.  Two  regi- 
ments held  the  Hainkoi  Pass,  and  detachments  of  troops  were  stationed 
at  Drenova  and  Gabrova,  while  the  main  portion  of  the  Russian  army 
occupied  in  force  a  line  extending  from  Tirnova  to  Shipka,  under  the 
command  of  Prince  Mirski. 

On  the  16th  there  was  a  general  reconnoissance  in  some  force  by 
the  Turks  all  along  the  Russian  left  flank.  From  the  Danube  to 
beyond  the  Balkans;  from  under  the  guns  of  Rustchuk,  from  Ras- 


510  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

grad;  from  Osman  Bazar  towards  Bebrova,  and  at  half  a  dozen 
intermediate  places  the  soldiers  of  Mehemet  AH  Pasha,  beat  up  the 
Russian  positions  confronting  them.  There  was  not  much  hard  fight- 
ing, and  little  loss  on  either  side;  but  the  significance  of  the  movement 
was  that  the  Turks  took  the  initiative. 

From  the  Tunja  Valley  on  the  same  day  a  column  of  Suleiman 
Pasha's  force  attempted  strenuously  to  force  the  Hainkoi  Pass,  but 
after  forcing  its  way  into  the  defile,  it  was  so  roughly  handled  by 
the  Russian  artillery  in  position,  and  by  a  regiment  holding  the  Pass, 
that  it  was  compelled  to  relire. 

On  the  19th  Suleiman  Pasha  occupied  the  village  of  Shipka, 
and  on  the  21st  commenced  an  attack  on  the  Russian  positions  at 
the  head  of  the  Pass.  It  may  be  proper  to  explain  to  the  reader 
that  the  Skipka  Pass  is  not  a  pass  at  all  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term.  There  is  no  gorge,  no  defile;  there  is  no  spot  where  three 
hundred  men  could  make  anew  Therm  opylse;  no  deep-scored  trench 
where  an  army  miglit  be  annihilated  without  coming  to  grips  with  its 
adversary.  It  has  its  name  simply  because  at  this  point  there  happens 
to  be  a  section  of  the  Balkans  of  less  than  the  average  height,  the  sur- 
face of  which,  from  the  Yantra  Valley  on  the  north  to  the  Tunja 
Valley  on  the  south,  is  sufiiciently  continuous,  although  having  an 
extremely  broken  and  serrated  contour,  to  afford  a  foothold  for  a 
practicable  track,  for  the  Balkans  present  a  wild  jumble  of  mountain 
and  glen,  neither  having  any  continuity.  Under  such  circumstances, 
such  a  crossing-place  as  the  Shipka  point  affords  is  a  godsend,  although 
under  other  circumstances  a  road  over  it  would  be  regarded  as  impos- 
sible. "What  was  a  mere  track  had  now  become  a  really  good  and 
practicable,  although  steep,  high  road.  The  ground  on  either  side  of 
the  ridge  is  depressed  sometimes  into  shallow  hollows,  sometimes  into 
cavernous  gorges ;  but  these  lateral  depressions  are  broken,  and  have 
no  continuity,  otherwise  they  would  clearly  afford  a  better  track  for 
a  road  than  the  high  ground  above. 

The  highest  peak  is  flanked  on  either  side  behind  the  lateral 
depressions  by  a  mountainous  spur  higher  than  itself,  and  therefore 
commanding  it  and  having  as  well  the  command  of  the  ridge  behind. 
The  highest  peak,  that  is  to  say,  the  first  of  these  two  spurs,  can  rake 
the  road  leading  up  to  the  Russian  positions.  These  spurs  break  oflT 
abruptly  and  precipitously,  one  on  the  northern  edge,  and  therefore 


PASSING    TILE  BALKANS.  511 

afford  no  access  into  the  valley  north  of  the  Balkans.  Their  sole  use 
to  the  Turks,  therefore,  was  in  affording  positions  whence  to  flank  the 
central  Shipka  ridge.  It  is  possible  also  for  troops  to  descend  from 
them,  struggle  through  the  intervening  glens,  and  climbing  the  steep 
slopes  of  the  Shipka  ridge,  give  the  hand  to  each  other  on  the  road 
which  runs  along  its  summit.  This  done  the  Shipka  position  would 
of  course  be  turned,  but  the  advantage  would  be  of  little  avail  till  the 
road  had  been  opened  by  carrying  tlie  fortified  positions  on  it.  With- 
out the  command  of  the  road  an  enemy  might  indeed  send  bands  down 
the  road  on  to  which  he  had  scrambled,  into  the  lower  country  about 
Gabrova  to  burn  and  plunder,  but  the  road  over  the  Shipka  constitutes 
for  an  army  the  only  practicable  line  of  communication  in  this  section 
of  the  Balkans. 

The  troops  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Shipka  Pass  were  as  follows : 
The  Bulgarians  and  a  regiment  of  the  Ninth  Division  under  General 
Stoletoff;  the  Second  Brigade  of  the  Ninth  Division,  under  General 
Derotchinsky ;  the  Eifle  Brigade  under  General  Toitzwinski.  The 
Second  Brigade  of  the  Fourteenth  Division,  commanded  by  General 
Petrotchesti,  arrived  at  nine  in  the  morning,  brought  up  by  the  com- 
mander of  the  division,  General  Dragimiroff,  the  whole  force  being 
under  the  chief  command  of  General  Eadetzky,  commanding  the 
Eighth  Corps,  which  is  composed  of  the  Ninth  and  Fourteenth  Divi- 
sions, in  all  twenty  battalions,  which  if  full  would  give  an  aggregate 
of  about  seventeen  thousand  men;  but  every  regiment  engaged  had 
already  fought  and  lost.  The  Tirailleurs  and  Bulgarians  shared  the 
fortunes  and  misfortunes  of  General  Gourko.  The  Fourteenth  Division 
fought  hard  in  crossing  the  Danube.  The  stones  of  the  Shipka  had 
already  been  splashed  with  the  blood  of  Mirski's  gallant  fellows  of  the 
Ninth  Division.     The  total  strength  was  not  above  thirteen  thousand. 

The  Turks  began  the  attack  on  the  21st,  pushing  on  directly  up  the 
steeps  above  the  village  of  Shipka.  The  Russian  garrison  in  the 
works  of  the  pass  then  consisted  of  the  Bulgarian  Legion  and  one 
regiment  of  the  Ninth  Division,  both  weakened  by  previous  hard 
fighting,  and  probably  reckoning  little  more  than  three  thousand 
bayonets,  with  about  forty  cannon.  No  supports  were  nearer  than 
Tirnova,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  The  garrison  fought  hard  and 
hindered  the  Turks  from  gaining  any  material  advantage,  though  they 
forced  the  outer  line  of  the  Russian  shelter  trenches  on  the  slopes  below 


512 


PASSIAG    THE  BALKANS. 


Servian  Staff  Officers  and  Monks  holding  Council  in  a  Monastery. 

the  position  of  Mount  Saint  Nicholas,  the  highest  peak  of  the  Shipka 
crossing.  The  Russians  had  laid  mines  in  front  of  their  trenches, 
which  were  exploded  just  as  the  head  of  the  Turkish  assaulting  parties 
were  massed  above  them,  and  a  large  number  of  Moslems  were  blown 
up  into  the  air  in  fragments.  The  loss  to  the  Russians  on  the  first 
day's  attack  was  but  two  hundred,  chiefly  of  the  Bulgarian  Legion. 

On  the  second  day,  the  22d,  the  fighting  was  not  heavy,  the  Turks 
being  engaged  in  making  a  wide  turning  movement  on  the  right  and 
left  flanks  of  the  Russian  position,  and  these  attacks  were  developed 
with  great  fierceness  and  pertinacity. 

On  the  23d  the  Turks  assailed  the  Russian  position  on  the  front  and 
flanks,  and  drove  in  the  defenders  from  their  outlying  ground.  The 
radical  defects  of  the  position  became  painfully  apparent,  its  narrow- 
ness, its  exposure,  its  liability  to  be  outflanked  and  isolated.  For- 
tunately reinforcements  had  arrived,  which  averted  the  mischief  which 
had  otherwise  imminently  impended.  There  had  come  to  him,  swiftly 
marching  from  Selvi,  a  brigade  of  the  Ninth  Division,  commanded  by 


PASSWG    THE  BALKANS.  513 

General  Derotcninski,  and  this  timely  succor  had  been  of  material 
value  to  Stoletoff.  The  fight  lasted  all  day,  and  at  length,  as  the  sun 
grew  lower,  they  had  so  worked  round  on  both  the  Russian  flanks 
that  it  seemed  as  though  the  claws  of  the  crab  were  about  momentarily 
to  close  behind  the  Russians,  and  that  the  Turkish  columns  climbing 
the  Russian  ridge  would  give  a  hand  to  each  other  on  the  road  in  the 
rear  of  the  Russian  position. 

The  moment  was  dramatic  with  an  intensity  to  which  the  tameness 
of  civilian  life  can  furnish  no  parallel.  The  two  Russian  generals, 
expecting  momentarily  to  be  environed,  had  sent,  between  the  closing 
claws  of  the  crab,  a  last  telegram  to  the  Czar,  telling  what  they 
expected,  how  they  tried  to  prevent  it,  and  how  that,  please  God, 
driven  into  their  positions  and  beset,  they  would  hold  these  till  rein- 
forcements should  arrive.  At  all  events,  they  and  their  men  would 
hold  their  ground  to  the  last  drop  of  their  blood. 

It  was  six  o'clock,  there  was  a  lull  in  the  fighting,  of  which  the 
Russians  could  take  no  advantage,  since  the  reserves  were  all  engaged. 
The  grimed,  sun-blistered  men,  were  beaten  out  with  heat,  fatigue, 
hunger,  and  thirst.  There  had  been  no  cooking  for  three  days,  and 
there  was  no  water  within  the  Russian  lines.  The  poor  fellows  lay 
panting  on  the  bare  ridge,  reckless  that  it  was  swept  by  the  Turkish 
rifle  fire.  Others  doggedly  fought  on  down  among  the  rocks,  forced 
to  give  ground,  but  doing  so  grimly  and  sourly.  The  cliffs  and  valleys 
send  back  the  triumphant  Turkish  shouts  of  "Allah  il  Allah!" 

The  two  Russian  generals  were  on  the  peak  which  the  first  position 
half  encloses.  Their  glasses  anxiously  scanned  the  visible  glimpses  of 
the  steep  brown  road  leading  up  there  from  the  Yantra  valley,  through 
thick  copses  of  sombre  green,  and  yet  more  sombre  dark  rock.  Stole- 
toflf  cries  aloud  in  sudden  access  of  excitement,  clutches  his  brother 
General  by  the  arm,  and  points  down  the  pass.  The  head  of  a  long 
black  column  was  plainly  visible  against  the  reddish-brown  bed  of  the 
road.  "  Now  God  be  thanked !"  says  Stoletoff",  solemnly.  Both  generals 
bare  their  heads.  The  troops  spring  to  their  feet.  They  descry  the 
long  black  serpent  coiling  up  the  brown  road.  Through  the  green 
copses  a  glint  of  sunshine  flashes,  banishes  the  sombreness,  and  dances 
on  the  glittering  bayonets.  Such  a  gust  of  Russian  cheers  whirls  and 
eddies  among  the  mountain  tops  that  the  Turkish  war-cries  are  wholly 
drowned  in  the  glad  welcome  which  the  Russian  soldiers  send  to  the 
33 


514  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

comrades  coming  to  help  them.  Some  time  elapses.  The  head  of  the 
column  draws  near  the  Kai-aula,  and  is  on  the  little  plateau  in  front 
of  the  khan.  But  they  are  mounted  men.  The  horses  are  easily 
discernible.  Has  Radetzky,  then,  been  so  left  to  himself,  or  so  hard 
pushed,  that  he  has  sent  cavalry  to  cope  with  infantry  among  the 
precipices  of  the  Balkans?  Be  they  what  they  may,  they  carry  a 
tongue  that  can  speak,  for  on  the  projection  to  the  right  of  the  khan 
a  mountain  battery  has  just  come  into  action  against  the  Turkish 
artillery  on  the  wooded  ridge,  by  the  occupation  of  which  the  Turks 
are  flanking  the  right  of  the  Russian  position.  There  are  no  riders 
on  the  horses  now,  and  they  are  on  their  way  down  hill.  But  a 
column  of  Russian  infantry  are  on  the  swift  tramp  up  hill  till  they 
get  within  firing  distance  of  the  Turks  on  the  right,  and  then  they 
break,  scatter,  and  from  behind  every  stone  and  bush  spurt  white  jets 
of  smoke. 

It  is  a  battalion  of  the  Rifle  Brigade,  the  brigade  itself  is  not  far 
behind^  and  it  is  a  rifle  brigade  that  needs  no  more  fighting  in  the 
Balkans  to  link  its  name  with  the  great  mountain  chain.  It  is  the 
same  rifle  brigade  which  followed  General  Gourko  in  his  victorious 
advance  and  checkered  retreat.  The  brigade  has  marched  thirty-five 
miles  straight  on  end  without  cooking  or  sleeping,  and  now  is  in  action 
without  so  much  as  a  breathing  halt.  Such  is  the  stufi*  of  which 
thorough  good  soldiers  are  made.  Their  General,  the  gallant  Tzwitinsky, 
accompanies  them,  and  pushes  an  attack  on  the  Turkish  position  on 
that  wooded  ridge  on  the  Russian  right.  But  Radetzky,  Avho  himself 
brought  up  the  Tirailleurs,  and  so  saved  the  day,  marches  on  up  the 
road  with  his  staff*  at  his  back,  runs  the  triple  gauntlet  of  the  Turkish 
rifle  fire,  and  joins  the  other  two  Generals  on  the  peak  hard  by  the 
batteries  of  the  first  position. 

In  the  night  a  renewed  attempt  to  carry  the  Turkish  positions 
threatening  the  right  flank  could  well  be  spared.  But  it  was  felt  that 
there  was  no  safety,  far  less  elbow-room  for  the  Russians  until  the 
Turks  should  be  driven  off*  that  dominating  wooded  ridge  looming  so 
ugly  on  the  right  flank.  The  left  flank,  which  the  Turks  assailed  the 
previous  day,  was  now  comparatively  safe.  So  the  next  day's  fighting 
began  at  daybreak  with  a  renewed  attack  of  the  Russians  on  the 
positions  named. 

The  fighting  hung  very  much  in  the  valley,  and  the  reinforcements 


PASSmC    THE   BALKANS. 


515 


Reinforcements  Arriving  to  Barricade  the  Danube. 

of  the  I^inth  Division  sent  down  effected  much  perceptible  good. 
About  nine  Dragimiroff  arrived  with  two  regiments  of  the  Second 
Brigade  of  his  own  division,  the  Podolsk  Regiment.  He  left  in  reserve 
near  the  khan  the  Jitomer  Regiment,  and  marched  up  the  road  to  the 
first  position.  There  was  no  alternative  but  to  traverse  that  fearfully- 
dangerous  road,  for  the  lower  broken  ground  on  its  left  was  impracti- 
cable, and  reported  besides  to  be  swarming  with  Bashi-Bazouks.  The 
Jitomer  men  lost  heavily  while  making  this  promenade,  and  having 
reached  the  peak,  found  no  safe  shelter,  for  the  Turkish  rifle  fire  was 
coming  from  two  quarters  simultaneously.  So  the  infantry  were 
stowed  away  till  wanted  in  the  ditch  of  the  redoubt. 

The  firing  in  the  valley  waxed  and  waned  fitfully  as  the  morning 
wore  on  to  near  noon.  The  Turks  were  apparently  very  strong  in 
their  wooded  position,  and  there  was  an  evident  intention  on  their  part 
to  work  round  their  left  and  edge  in  across  the  narrowed  throat  of  the 
valley  towards  the  Russian  rear. 


516  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

About  eleven  the  firing  in  the  valley  swelled  in  volume.  It  was 
clear  that  the  battle  waged  to  and  fro,  now  the  Russians,  now  the 
Turks,  gaining  ground  occasionally.  The  Russians  at  some  point 
would  be  hurled  out  of  the  wood  altogether,  the  Turks  following  them 
eagerly  to  its  edge,  and  lying  down  while  pouring  out  a  galling  fire. 

There  is  something  terrible  in  a  fight  in  a  wood.  You  can  see 
nothing  save  an  occasional  flash  of  dark  color  among  the  sombre 
foliage,  and  the  white  clouds  of  smoke  rising  above  it  like  soap- 
bubbles.  Hoarse  cries  come  back  to  you  on  the  wind  from  out  the 
mysterious  inferno.  How  is  it  to  go?  Are  the  strong-backed  Musco- 
vites, with  these  ready  bayonet  points  of  theirs  to  end  the  long  drawn 
out  fight  with  one  short,  impetuous,  irresistible  rush,  or  are  the  more 
lissom  Turks  to  drive  their  northern  adversaries  out  of  the  wood 
backwards  into  the  fire-blistered  open.     Who  can  tell  ? 

The  Tirailleurs  and  Breanski  Regiment  are  not  making  headway  in 
their  difficult  enterprise  of  attacking  direct  in  front  the  steep  Turkish 
slope,  with  its  advantage  of  wooded  cover,  although  they  have  foiled 
the  efforts  of  the  Turks  to  work  round  by  their  own  left  into  the 
Russian  rear.  It  was  determined  at  twelve  o'clock  to  deliver  a 
counter  flank  attack  on  the  right  edge  of  the  Turkish  ridge,  simulta- 
neously with  a  renewed  strenuous  attack  of  the  Tirailleurs  and  the 
men  from  below.  The  two  battalions  of  the  Jitomer  Regiment,  each 
leaving  one  company  behind  as  supports,  emerge  from  the  p.irtial 
shelter  of  the  peak  of  the  Russian  first  position,  and  march  in 
company  columns  across  the  more  level  grass  land  at  the  head  of  the 
intervening  valley.  They  have  no  great  dip  to  traverse,  and  their 
way  is  good  marching  ground,  but  the  Turkish  mountain  guns  from 
the  battery  high  upon  the  wooded  peak  of  the  Turkish  position,  are 
ready  for  them,  as  also  is  the  Tui'kish  infantry  on  the  Turkish  right 
edge  of  the  ridge.  The  fire  sweeps  through  them,  and  many  a  gallant 
fellow  dyes  the  grass  with  his  blood.  But  the  battalions  press  steadily 
on,  and  dash  into  the  wood  at  the  double.  The  Russian  artillery  had 
done  its  best  to  prepare  the  way,  for  their  battery  on  the  peak  had 
fired  hard  while  they  were  crossing  over,  and  a  reserve  battery  near 
the  khan  down  below  had  come  into  action.  But  now  the  artillery 
had  to  cease,  for  there  was  danger  in  blind  firing  into  the  wood  when 
the  Russians  were  in  it.  The  arbitrament  had  to  be  left  to  rifle  and 
bayonet. 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS.  517 

The  crisis  of  the  battle  had  now  arrived.  It  remained  for  the 
Russians  to  gaze  into  the  perplexing  mystery  of  forest  and  to  hope 
fervently.  The  fighting  of  the  infantry  on  the  Turkish  front  and 
flank  lasted  for  a  long  hour,  and  raged  with  great  fury,  but  it  was 
clear  that  the  Russians  were  gradually  gaining  ground.  The  Turks 
were  seen  withdrawing  their  battery  of  mountain  guns  near  the  right 
flank,  a  sure  sign  that  danger  menaced  it  if  it  stayed  longer.  Then 
the  left  battery  followed  their  example,  a  sure  sign  too  that  the 
Tirailleurs  and  Breanskis  had  gained  the  ridge  on  the  Tui'kish  left 
also.     There  remained  but  the  central  peak  of  the  Turkish  position. 

The  fight  was  on  the  balance.  The  Russians  as  they  stood  could 
all  but  succeed,  but  not  quite.  It  was  an  intensely  exciting  period, 
and  Radetzky  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  We  have  mentioned  that 
the  Jitomer  battalions  had  left  two  companies  in  reserve  when  they 
marched  out  from  behind  the  peak.  Radetzky  took  one  of  these 
companies ;  the  Colonel  of  the  Jitomer  Regiment  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  the  other;  and  thus  led,  the  two  companies  set  forward  to 
throw  themselves  into  the  fray.  The  Jitomers  had  been  chafing  at 
their  inaction,  but  the  leadership  of  their  chief  thrilled  them  with 
increased  zeal.  Their  ringing  cheers  rose  high  above  the  rattle  of 
musketry  as  they  dashed  across  the  grassy  slope  at  the  head  of  the 
valley,  and  precipitated  themselves  into  the  wood. 

Now  there  was  a  concentric  rush  on  the  peak.  Its  rude  breastworks 
were  surmounted  there  was  some  hot  bayonet  work,  and  then  a 
tremendous  volley  of  Russian  hurrahs  told  that  the  Turkish  ridge  was 
cleared  and  the  position  won.  This  was  at  two  o'clock.  The  Turks, 
however,  are  irrepressible.  All  day  they  had  fought  with  stubborn 
valor,  and  would  not  yet  own  themselves  beaten.  They  came  on  again 
out  of  the  valley  beyond  their  late  ridge,  and  strove  to  retake  it,  but 
were  severely  repulsed.  By  three  o'clock  they  had  abandoned  the 
eflfort  for  the  day,  and  the  fire  had  all  but  died  out. 

During  the  following  day,  the  fight  raged  with  unabated  fury.  The 
arrival  of  Radetzky  with  reinforcements  saved  the  situation  for  the 
moment  and  drove  back  the  Turks,  who  were  on  the  point  of  seizing 
the  pass;  but  the  Russian  position  was  still  most  critical.  The  Turks 
had  not  only  turned  both  the  Russian  flanks  by  seizing  Berdek  on  the 
left  and  the  mountains  on  the  right,  but  had  constructed  a  redoubt 
and  planted  a  battery  on  the  right  which  commanded  the  road  leading 


518  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

up  to  the  pass.  This  gave  them  possession  of  the  ridge  running 
parallel  to  that  up  which  the  road  winds  fifteen  hundred  yards  distant. 
The  redoubt  enfiladed  the  road  in  several  places,  and  the  Turkish 
infantry,  by  extending  along  this  ridge,  which  is  thickly  wooded, 
could  practically  render  the  road  impassable. 

General  Radetzky  had  no  sooner  arrived  than  he  began  making 
dispositions  in  earnest.  From  the  highest  point  of  the  pass  there  is  a 
high  short  narrow  ridge  extending  to  the  right  at  nearly  right  angles 
to  the  road.  At  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  it  rises  into  a  sharp  peak, 
which  was  crowned  by  a  Russian  redoubt,  effectually  protecting  the 
Russian  batteries  from  that  side.  Half  a  mile  further  the  ridge  rises 
into  another  peak,  which  was  crowned  by  the  Turkish  redoubt  already 
spoken  of,  and  it  was  the  head  of  the  ridge  mentioned  which  curved 
round  on  the  Russian  right  until  parallel  with  the  road,  thus  enabling 
the  Turkish  infantry  to  command  it. 

The  two  peaks  occupied  by  the  Russian  and  Turkish  redoubts  were 
thickly  wooded  as  well  as  the  connecting  ridge  between.  General 
Radetzky  advanced  his  troops  along  this  ridge  under  cover  of  the 
woods,  and  opened  fire  on  the  redoubt  with  two  or  three  batteries.  He 
at  the  same  time  sent  troops  across  the  deep  hollow  from  the  road  to 
take  the  Turkish  redoubt  on  the  Gabrova  side,  by  advancing  up  the 
steep  mountain  flank.  Soon  a  terrible  musketry  fire  told  that  the 
troops  were  in  contact  and  the  attack  fairly  begun ;  and  for  hours  the 
mountains  reechoed  with  the  continuous  roll  of  musketry  and  the 
thunder  of  cannon. 

The  Russians  advanced  like  Indians  under  cover  of  the  trees,  firing 
as  they  went.  In  a  short  time  they  had  reached  within  fifty  yards 
of  the  redoubt.  Here  they  found  obstacles  which  for  the  moment  were 
quite  insurmountable.  The  Turks  had  cut  down  the  trees  around  the 
redoubt,  making  an  abattis  over  which  the  Russians  found  it  almost 
impossible  to  pass.  They  gathered  around  the  edge  under  cover  of 
the  trees,  and  suddenly  made  a  rush  for  it,  but  were  driven  back  with 
fearful  loss.  The  soldiers  became  entangled  in  the  masses  of  brush- 
wood, trunks,  and  limbs  of  the  trees  over  which  they  were  obliged  to 
scramble,  while  the  Turks  poured  in  a  terrible  fire  upon  them  at  this 
short  distance,  and  mowed  them  down  like  grass.  Of  the  first  assault 
launched  against  the  redoubt  very  few  got  back  under  cover  to  tell  the 
tale.     It  was  very  evident   that  the  assault  under  such  conditions 


J>ASSING    THE  BALKANS. 


519 


520  PASSING    THE  BALKANS. 

could  not  succeed.  Only  one  battalion  had  been  sent  to  attack.  The 
force  was  insufficient,  and  of  this  one  company  sent  to  the  assault  was 
nearly  destroyed.  Keinforcements  were  sent  by  Radetzky.  The  at- 
tack began  again  with  a  heavy  and  well  sustained  musketry  fire, 
before  which  the  Turks,  unable  to  maintain  their  ground,  fell  back 
slowly.  The  Russians  followed,  supported  by  their  artillery,  until 
they  gained  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  Here  a  desperate  fight  took  place, 
the  Russians  maintaining  their  fire,  and  the  Turks  slowly  retiring 
before  the  assailants,  who  every  moment  received  strong  reinforcements, 
columns  of  infantry  continually  coming  up.  By  nine  o'clock  at  night 
the  Russians  were  pushing  forward  in  three  attacking  columns.  The 
Turks  fought  hard,  taking  advantage  of  every  bit  of  cover;  but  they 
were  unable  to  hide  themselves  completely,  owing  to  the  bright 
moonlight,  which  rendered  the  landscape  as  clear  as  day.  The 
Turks,  consequently,  were  forced  to  continue  their  retreat  up  the  hill 
until  the  summit  alone  was  in  their  possession.  At  11  p.m.  the 
Russians  made  a  grand  charge,  cheering  loudly.  They  stormed  the 
earthworks  covering  the  battery,  and  almost  efiected  an  occupation 
of  the  hill;  but  at  this  juncture  the  Turkish  officers  called  upon  their 
men  for  a  supreme  effort.  Forthwith  arose  loud  cries  of  "  Allah  !"  as 
the  Turks  rushed  out  of  the  side  of  the  trenches  in  the  rear  of  the  bat- 
tery, and  dashed  upon  their  enemy  with  the  bayonet,  hurling  the 
Russians  down  the  slope  and  forcing  them  through  the  wood  which 
covers  the  side  of  the  hill.  The  air  was  rent  with  the  shouts  and 
shrieks  of  the  soldiers,  whilst  the  scene  itself  was  perfectly  indescrib- 
able. The  fighting  was  simply  terrific.  The  Russians  fell  back 
quickly,  but  receiving  fresh  reinforcements,  renewed  the  attack  at 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  storming  the  height  again,  and  reaching 
the  summit,  which  they  partly  recovered.  They  were,  however,  driven 
back  again.  One  hour  later,  at  two  o'clock,  they  repeated  the  attempt 
with  the  same  result.  After  that  they  remained  quiet  until  six  o'clock, 
when,  being  heavily  reinforced,  they  made  a  final  attack.  This  time 
the  Turks,  being  also  reinforced,  calmly  awaited  the  onslaught.  They 
allowed  the  Russians  to  reach  the  summit,  and  then  charged  them 
with  the  bayonet.  The  latter  broke  and  fled  down  the  hill  and 
through  the  wood.  Completely  routed,  they  were  pushed  into  the 
valley,  the  Turks  pursuing  them  with  the  bayonet  up  to  their  forts, 
which  immediately  opened  a  heavy  fire.     The  Russians  receiving  re- 


PASSING    THE  BALKANS.  521 

inforcements  on  Sunday  morning,  unsuccessfully  attempted  a  final 
assault,  after  which  they  returned  to  their  fortified  works.  The  can- 
nonade continued  all  Sunday  without  appreciable  result. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  the  28th,  Suleiman  Pasha  again  attacked  the 
Russian  positions.  The  Turkish  guns  opened  fire  at  ten  o'clock,  and 
the  infantry  at  half-past  ten.  The  artillery  was  effectively  served, 
every  shell  falling  into  the  Russian  batteries.  The  infantry  advanced 
so  close  to  the  Russian  entrenchments  that  the  Turks  were  compelled 
to  suspend  their  artillery  fire.  The  Muscovs  were  driven  back  at  all 
points.  The  Turks  fought  magnificently,  rushing  up  the  mountains, 
and  with  loud  cheers  attacking  their  enemy  with  the  bayonet. 

The  Russians  retired  to  an  impregnable  rock,  defended  by  rifle  pits, 
from  which  it  was  impossible  to  dislodge  them,  owing  to  the  lateness 
of  the  hour  and  the  fatigue  the  troops  had  suffered.  During  the  night 
the  Turks  dragged  up  a  number  of  guns,  and  on  the  next  morning 
fighting  commenced  at  daybreak,  the  Turks  pushing  forward  still 
closer  to  the  last  of  the  Russian  positions.  Fighting  was  continued 
throughout  the  day,  but  nothing  important  occurred. 

At  daybreak  on  Thursday  the  battle  recommenced.  The  Turkish 
artillery  fired  with  perfect  precision,  eveiy  shell  falling  into  the  Rus- 
sian rifle  pits.  At  noon  the  Russian  batteries  in  the  centre  were 
silenced,  and  shortly  were  abandoned,  the  men  running  away  like 
sheep.  The  Turkish  shells  mowed  down  the  retreating  troops;  but 
presently  receiving  heavy  reinforcements,  they  returned  and  re-occu- 
pied their  batteries  and  rifle  pits.  The  Ottoman  soldiers  behaved  like 
heroes,  fighting  hard  with  the  bayonet ;  but  being  unsupported,  the 
attacking  column  was  obliged  to  fall  back,  after  making  a  gallant 
resistance.  They,  however,  retained  most  of  the  important  heights 
they  had  previously  captured.  \ 

Subsequently  the  Turks  pushed  on  near  to  the  rear  of  the  Russian 
position,  whilst  the  latter  attacked  the  Turkish  left.  Furious  fighting 
ensued,  and  lasted  all  day.  The  Russians  this  time  were  repulsed 
with  heavy  loss.  Their  batteries  in  the  centre  were  unable  to  fire  at 
all,  owing  to  the  Turks  having  established  a  battery  on  the  heights  to 
the  right. 


522  OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEYNA. 

Simultaneously  with  Suleiman  Pasha's  movement  upon  the 
Shipka  Pass,  Osmau  Pasha  moved  up  troops  from  Loftcha  towards 
Selvi,  on  the  way  to  Gabrova,  by  which  town  Suleiman  Pasha,  if  suc- 
cessful, intended  to  descend  upon  Tirnova,  and  at  noon  on  the  22d  of 
August  rifle  firing  began  at  the  position  occupied  by  the  Russian 
advanced  guards  before  Selvi. 

On  the  last  day  of  August  was  fought  the  third  battle  of  Plevna. 
The  Turks,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  made  a  furious  attack  on 
the  Russian  positions,  which  resulted  in  one  of  the  most  hardly  fought 
battles  of  the  war.  The  extreme  Russian  front  was  about  four  or  five 
miles  from  Pored  in,  and  the  battle  was  begun  by  an  advance  of  the 
Turks  upon  Pelisa  and  Zgaliuce.  A  mile  in  front  of  the  former  vil- 
lage was  a  Russian  redoubt,  which  the  Turks  took  in  their  advance, 
lost,  and  retook  very  early  in  the  day.  Zgalince  was  the  Russian  cen- 
tre, having  before  it  a  redoubt  and  a  series  of  trenches.  The  capture 
of  the  redoubt  befcti-e  Pelisat  enabled  the  Turks  to  drive  the  Russian 
left  back  upon  Pelisat,  in  front  of  which  trenches  had  been  dug  and 
lined  with  troops.  The  Turks  marched  down  the  hill  to  the  attack  in 
loose  order,  without  firing,  and  had  accomplished  half  the  distance 
under  a  destructive  artillery  fire,  when  a  tremendous  rifle  fire  was 
opened  on  them  as  they  were  advancing  to  the  Russian  trenches  on  the 
crest  of  the  hill  half  way  between  Pelisat  and  Zgalince.  As  they 
attempted  the  ascent  they  were  received  with  a  storm  of  balls,  under 
which  they  remained  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  dunng  winch  time 
a  fearful  loss  of  life  occurrrd.  Before  reaching  the  trenches  they  began 
to  wither  away,  and  retreated,  carrying  off"  the  wounded.  No  sooner 
however,  had  they  withdrawn  from  the  Russian  fire  than  they  formed 
and  encountered  it  again.  Their  valor  cost  them  dear,  for  many  bodies 
of  Turks  lay  within  ten  feet  of  the  Russian  trenches.  The  little  slope 
on  the  crest  of  which  the  trenches  were  situated,  was  literally  covered 
with  dead.  As  many  as  seven  were  counted  on  a  space  of  not  more 
than  ten  feet  square.     The  battle  h«re  was  terrible,  but  the  Turks  were 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 


623 


Feeding  Pigeons  in  Constantinople. 
aeain  repulsed,  and  again  they  retreated.  A  third  time  they  advanced, 
although  the  Russian  fire  never  slackened  an  instant,  and  the  Russian 
line  never  wavered,  while  the  Russian  reserves  were  waiting  behind, 
leady  to  advance  at  the  least  sign  of  instability.  The  scene  of  carnage 
was  again  repeated,  but  it  only  lasted  a  moment.  The  Turks,  com- 
pletely broken,  withdrew,  sullenly  firing,  and  taking  time  to  carry  off 
their  wounded  and  many  of  their  dead.  Still  they  held  the  redoubt 
in  front  of  Pelisat,  upon  which  they  fell  back  apparently  with  the  in- 
tention of  kolding  it,  but  they  were  not  allowed  to  remain  long  there. 
The  attack  on  the  redoubt  in  the  Russian  centre  had  been  as  unsuc- 
cessful as  that  on  the  Russian  trenches  on  the  left.  The  Russians  pur- 
sued their  enemy  with  a  murderous  fire,  and  then  six  companies 
attacked  them  with  the  bayonet  and  swept  them  out  of  the  redoubt 
like  a  whirlwind.  At  four  o'clock  the  Turks  were  in  retreat  every- 
where. The  Russians  occupied  the  whole  of  their  first  positions,  besides 
pursuing  the  Turks  a  short  distance  with  cavalry.  The  Russians  were 
about  twenty  thousand.  Their  loss  is  estimated  at  five  hundred,  and 
the  loss  of  the  Turks  at  two  thousand  five  hundred  killed  and  wounded. 
On  the  3d  of  September  the  Russians  succeeded  in  retaking  Loftcha 


524  OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 

from  Osman  Pasha.  The  position  was  carried  by  assault  by  the  troops 
uuder  Generals  Meretinsky  and  Skobeloff.  One  of  the  first  things 
which  Osman  Pasha  did  when  he  had  taken  Plevna  was  to  make  sure 
of  Loftcha.  The  place  is  on  the  road  from  Plevna  to  Gabrova  by 
Selvi,  and  it  is  in  this  southeastern  direction  that  Osman  Pasha  steadily 
sought  to  advance.  Loftcha  is  also  on  the  line  of  road  from  Rahova 
or  Nicopolis  by  Trojan  to  Philippopolis,  south  of  the  Balkans,  and 
gives  its  name  to  the  Pass. 

The  fighting  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  this  position  by  the 
Russians  was,  as  might  have  been  expected,  of  the  severest  description. 
The  conflict  raged  for  twelve  hours  among  the  rifle  pits  and  redoubts 
with  which  the  Turks  had  fortified  their  position.  The  Turks  made  a 
most  obstinate  resistance,  and  the  loss  on  each  side  was  great.  The 
operation  was  important  in  many  respects.  It  foreshadowed  the  kind 
of  fighting  which  must  take  place  at  the  attack  on  Plevna;  it  placed  a 
strong  force  upon  Osman  Pasha's  right  flank,  and  exposed  to  Russian 
attack  the  road  from  Plevna  to  Sofia  by  which  Osman  Pasha  received 
his  supplies,  and  which  was  also  his  best  line  of  retreat. 

The  great  battle  of  Plevna,  the  one  long  expected,  began  on  the 
morning  of  Friday,  September  7th,  the  Russians  having  decided,  after 
the  successful  afiair  of  Loftcha,  no  longer  to  delay  attempting  to  take 
Plevna.  Since  the  last  afiair  at  Plevna  the  Russian  army  had  re- 
mained idle  in  and  around  its  positions  in  front  of  Poredin,  Scalinka, 
Pelisat,  and  Bogot.  The  Turks,  notwithstanding  the  energy  displayed 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Balkans  by  Suleiman  Pasha,  apparently  feared 
a  trial  of  strength  here. 

It  therefore  seemed  a  great  relief  to  officers  and  men .  alike  when  it 
was  known  that  something  was  to  be  done.  For  two  or  three  days 
new  life  had  been  infused  into  the  semi-dormant  armies.  Regiments 
and  divisions  quickly  and  mysteriously  disappeared,  and  their  places 
were  rapidly  occupied  by  new  comers.  Then  on  Sunday  came  the  new 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Plevna  army,  the  dark,  handsome,  and 
courteous  ruler  of  Roumania,  Prince  Charles  Hohenzollern,  with  a 
brilliant  escort.  There  seemed  nothing  further  to  wait  for  but  the 
command  to  the  new  ally  to  commence  the  attack.  The  victory  at 
Loftcha  made  this  command  possible,  for  with  the  left  flank  completely 
developed,  and  the  right  flank  occupied  by  the  three  Roumanian 
divisions,  there  was  before  Plevna  with  Trotaff"s  original  command  a 
fighting  array  of  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  men. 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA.  525 

The  battle  commenced  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  raged 
ten  hours,  but  was  simply  an  artillery  duel.  The  Turkish  redoubt  on 
the  heights  above  Grivitza  all  day  long  received  the  fire  of  the  Russian 
and  Roumanian  batteries  from  all  sides  of  the  plateaus  commanding  it. 

When  the  cannonade  recommenced  on  Saturday  morning,  it  was 
not  easy  at  first  sight  to  recognize  that  the  Russians  had  gained  any 
advantage  by  their  profuse  powder-burning  of  the  day  before.  At 
first  sight  the  parapet  of  the  Grivitza  redoubt  had  been  a  good  deal 
jagged  by  the  Russian  shell  fire;  but,  under  cover  of  night,  all  its 
defects  had  been  made  good,  and  it  looked  as  trim  as  if  never  a  shot 
had  been  fired  at  it.  But  the  Russians  had  been  at  work  also  during 
the  night.  They  had  gained  a  large  slice  of  ground  in  the  direction 
of  Grivitza,  that  is,  their  working  parties  had  been  pushed  forward 
in  the  fortunate  darkness,  and  a  battery  of  siege  guns  had  been  built 
and  armed  on  an  elevation  comparatively  close  to  and  overhanging 
Grivitza  village,  and  within  easy  battery  range  of  the  irrepressible 
redoubt. 

As  soon  as  the  sun  rose  that  battery  came  into  action  against  the 
redoubt,  supported  by  isolated  big  guns.  Away  to  the  right  a  battery 
of  siege  guns  sent  its  fire  sweeping  down  the  valley  and  over  traversing 
undulations  into  what  in  the  previous  battle  was  called  the  Turkish 
first  position,  the  redoubt  and  entrenched  village  in  the  central  swell. 
This  position  was  also  receiving  the  fire  of  two  or  three  batteries  of 
field  guns  stationed  on  the  heights  beyond  Radisovo,  the  height  where 
Schackoskoy's  cannon  stood  so  long.  The  redoubt  could  not  reply  to 
the  siege  battery,  the  range  of  the  latter  being  too  long,  so  it  accepted 
punishment  from  that  quarter,  and  pounded  away  in  reply  to  the  field 
batteries  on  the  ridge. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  the  furious  bombardment  was 
renewed.  On  the  top  of  the  ridge  which  formed  the  Turkish  first  line, 
every  battery  was  engaged,  the  Russians  having  during  the  night 
brought  up  heavier  guns  and  placed  them  nearer.  They  had  also 
pushed  between  the  Turkish  position  and  the  Danube,  getting  into  a 
northeasterly  direction  and  opening  upon  the  flank  of  the  second  and 
third  line  a  heavy  shell  fire. 

As  midday  approached  special  orders  were  given  to  the  Turkish 
redoubts  only  to  fire  when  necessary.  Osmau  Pasha  had  hoped  by 
this  means  to  make  the  Russians  think  that  they  had  nearly  silenced 


526  OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 

the  Turkish  attack,  and  that  they  might  now  safely  make  an  assault 
with  infantry.  Still,  one  and  two  o'clock  struck,  and  the  bombard- 
ment of  the  Turkish  position  continued,  till,  about  a  quarter  to  three, 
a  little  dust  was  observed  on  the  Orkhonie  road,  and  then  scouts  came 
flying  in  with  the  news  that  the  enemy  was  advancing  up  the  valley 
of  the  Vid.  A  few  minutes  later  and  six  or  eight  battalions  of  infantry, 
several  guns  and  two  regiments  of  cavalry  were  seen  coming  over  the 
plain.  Simultaneously,  over  the  northeast  point  of  the  position — that 
is  to  say,  a  little  in  rear  of  the  third  line  of  defence — an  infantry  force 
of  the  Russians  was  reported,  which  was  soon  seen  descending  down 
the  broad  Loftcha  road,  which  intersects  the  hill  just  above  Plevna. 
The  great  battle  of  Plevna  seemed  to  be  begun.  Osman  Pasha's 
dispositions  were  raj)idly  made.  Moving  three  battalions  which  bivou- 
acked just  above  the  town  on  to  the  road  by  the  river,  he  ordered 
about  one  thousand  irregular  cavalry,  three  or  four  hundred  Circassians 
and  a  couple  of  guns  to  precede  them,  and  find  out  what  the  enemy 
was  made  of.  At  the  same  time  he  took  five  battalions  from  the 
reserve  in  the  headquarters  camp,  and  moved  them  into  a  clump  of 
trees  at  one  end  of  the  valley,  with  two  more  guns.  The  whole  opera- 
tion was  very  quietly  eflfected.  The  Russian  cavalry  advanced  in  a 
long  line  extending  nearly  across  the  plain,  having  very  few  scouts  in 
front  and  halting  very  frequently.  The  infantry,  in  columns  of 
battalions,  followed,  four  battalions  in  line,  three  in  support,  and  one 
in  reserve.  A  half-battery  of  guns  was  well  advanced;  another  half- 
kept  in  rear.  As  they  came  over  the  plain,  the  sun  burning  brightly, 
every  bayonet  and  eveiy  lance  could  be  seen.  The  whole  movement 
had  all  the  appearance  of  a  peaceful  review.  For  the  purpose  of 
advancing  upon  the  enemy  thus  menacing  them,  the  Turks  had  a 
little  pathway  close  under  the  left  ridge  by  which  their  troops  could 
go  till  they  were  nearly  upon  the  Russians,  and  along  this  path  the 
cavalry,  two  guns,  and  three  battalions  noiselessly  went,  while  those 
in  the  clump  of  trees  got  ready  to  advance  quickly  at  a  moment's 
notice.  On  came  the  Russians  quite  comfortably ;  they  seemed  to  be 
walking  heedlessly  into  the  trap  prepared  for  them,  and  would  soon 
be  quite  close  by,  when  some  Russ,  more  wary  than  his  comrades, 
suspected  something;  for  they  all  on  a  sudden  wheeled  round  and 
began  marching  away  much  more  quickly  that  they  had  come.  With 
a  cry  of  disappointment  the  Turkish  soldiers  begged  to  be  allowed  to 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 


627 


Mehemet  Murad,  the  new  Sultan  of  Turkey. 

attack,  and  the  word  to  advance  was  immediately  given,  but  the 
harder  they  marched  the  harder  their  enemy  went,  but  they  presently 
overtook  them,  attacked  them  in  line,  and,  after  a  fight  of  about  half 
an  hour,  gave  them  a  severe  repulse. 


528  OPERATIONS  BEFORE   PLEVNA. 

While  this  skirmish  was  going  on,  a  descent  was  made  by  the 
Russians  in  force  from  the  Loftcha  road.  To  meet  this  new  attack 
Osman  Pasha  moved  forward  immediately  four  battalions  into  the 
maize  field  through  which  the  Russians  would  come;  four  more 
battalions,  with  four  guns,  were  advanced  to  a  hill  which  imme- 
diately faced  the  Russian  force.  On  a  ridge  which  flanks  the  road 
which  the  Russians  had  taken,  two  battalions  from  redoubts  placed 
there,  were  moved  into  a  breastwork  about  six  hundred  yards  away 
from  the  Muscovs,  and  two  more  battalions  were  brought  down  upon 
their  left  flank.  The  action  was  not  long  in  beginning.  Pushing 
through  the  maize  with  great  rapidity,  the  Russians  were  received  with 
a  smart  fire  from  every  direction.  From  the  breastwork  on  the  right 
and  the  ridge  on  the  left,  from  the  hill  in  front,  and  from  all  the 
redoubts  near,  such  a  storm  of  shot  and  shell  fell  in  upon  them  that 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  Turks  began  to  shout  "Allah!"  and  the 
Russians  commenced  to  run.  Over  the  hill  came  more  battalions, 
with  a  thundering  fire,  while  fresh  field  guns  were  unmasked  and 
opened  upon  the  Turkish  position.  Then  the  fight  opened  again  in 
earnest.  The  first  and  second  battalions  fell  back,  and  the  two  batta- 
lions that  had  been  behind  the  breastwork  went  down  to  their  assist- 
ance; more  troops  pushing  into  the  maize,  while  more  guns  went 
into  action,  and  the  firing  in  volleys  became  continuous.  It  was 
clear  that  a  serious  conflict  had  begun.  With  his  usual  coolness, 
Osman  Pasha  ordered  the  battalions  on  the  Russian  right  flank  to  go 
into  action,  holding  only  as  reserve  the  two  on  the  hill  immediately 
in  front  of  them.  Descending  the  height  in  open  order,  they  too  crept 
into  the  long  grass  and  maize,  and  advanced  as  rapidly  as  possible 
under  a  shell  fire  of  terrific  power,  the  missiles  plunging  about  in 
such  a  manner  that  those  who  did  not  get  hit  by  the  shells  themselves 
got  plentifully  sprinkled  wath  stones  and  earth.  It  was  simply  a 
desperate  struggle;  for  the  Russians  having  the  top  of  the  hill,  while 
the  Turks  only  had  the  bottom  and  the  sides,  and  so  distinct  an 
advantage  over  the  latter  that  it  was,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
a  Turkish  and  not  a  Russian  attack  at  all.  However,  the  Ottomans 
went  forward  shouting  "  Allah !"  with  a  great  cheer  every  few  minutes, 
and  thus,  simultaneously  cheering  each  other  and  worrying  their  enemy, 
Adil  Pasha  pushed  forward  the  Turkish  right,  all  in  open  order,  while 
Osman  Pasha  kept  the  centre  a  little  back  and  worked  the  left  forward, 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA.  629 

SO  as  to  get  their  enemy  within  the  fire  of  the  semicircle.  By  half-past 
five  the  Turkish  force  were  half  way  up  the  hill,  the  Kussians  con- 
stantly giving  ground,  but  being  continually  reinforced,  while  Osman 
never  so  much  as  called  on  another  soldier  to  aid  him.  The  fight 
continued,  the  Turks  slowly  pushing  up  the  hill,  but  cheering  whenever 
they  gained  an  advantage.  A  quarter-past  six  o'clock,  and  still  only 
three-quarters  up  the  hill.  Another  cheer  and  a  little  rush ;  and  then 
more  heavy  firing  for  ten  minutes,  the  soldiers  all  the  while  pressing 
through  the  maize.  At  last  they  have  reached  the  end  of  the  corn, 
and  the  Russians  are  exposed  fully  to  view.  "Charge!"  says  Osman 
Pasha,  and  all  go  forward.  The  Russians  run.  "  Go  in  pursuit!" 
is  the  command  to  some  Circassian  cavalry  who  are  close  at  hand, 
and  these,  too,  rush  up  the  hill.  It  is  now  a  quarter  to  seven,  and 
the  last  three  volleys  are  being  fired ;  the  last,  for  the  Russians,  many 
of  them  falling  from  the  effects  of  the  Turkish  bullets,  are  doing  their 
best  to  get  away.  Then  a  loud  cheer;  two  more  shots  from  the 
batteries,  and  all  is  over.  The  Turkish  troops  move  on  to  the  top  of 
the  hill — the  whole  side  strewed  thickly  with  Russian  bodies.  In 
five  minutes  all  is  quiet,  for  there  is  even  a  lull  in  the  bombardment. 

The  next  day,  Monday,  wore  away  without  special  incident.  On 
Tuesday  the  long  expected  grand  attack  was  made.  From  daybreak 
the  Turkish  position  was  assailed  with  a  heavy  cannonade  on  all  sides, 
which  continued  until  midday,  when  great  masses  of  Russians  were 
seen  descending  the  slopes  near  the  Loftcha  road,  exactly  above  the 
town  of  Plevna,  and  approaching  the  hill  which  forms  the  third  line 
of  the  Ottoman  defence  facing  northward.  Osman  Pasha  was  ready 
for  the  assault.  Without  any  delay  his  preparations  were  carried 
out,  the  ■  redoubts  were  manned,  and  the  trenches  on  either  side 
occupied  with  troops,  while  reserves  were  disposed  in  the  best  positions 
for  assisting  the  defence  wherever  it  might  prove  weakest.  On  the 
southern  side,  the  task  which  the  Russians  had  before  them  was  to 
take  three  redoubts  crowning  the  top  of  a  high  ridge.  On  the 
northern  side  the  work  cut  out  was  to  storm  another  high  ridge 
similarly  defended  by  five  redoubts,  also  connected  by  entrenchments. 
One  great  advantage  which  Osman  Pasha  possessed  was  the  situation 
of  his  headquarter  camp,  which  occupied  a  central  position,  enabling 
him  to  take  in  at  one  view  the  entire  field  of  operations  and  to  use 
his  reserves  in  the  most  judicious  manner. 
34 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 


■■'it  liElillS 


%r  \  ^ 


a 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA.  531 

"We  will  describe  the  Loflcha  attack  first.  The  Russians  advanced 
in  heavy  masses  of  close  column  of  battalions.  The  Turks  reserved 
their  fire  till  the  leading  masses  of  the  foe  drew  near  enough  for  it  to 
tell  with  deadliest  effect.  Then  opened  above  the  heads  of  the  defenders 
in  the  trenches  a  more  than  ever  terrific  cannonade,  under  which  the 
Russians  were  seen  to  desperately  quicken  their  step,  advancing  in  open 
order,  while  their  men  were  falling  singly  and  in  groups  all  over  the 
fiery  field.  Now  also  quickened  the  dreadful  roll  of  the  Turkish  in- 
fantry fire,  bursting  forth  from  the  redoubts  and  entrenchments. 
While  these  volleys  swept  backwards  and  forwards  all  along  the 
trenches,  the  assailants  went  down  by  hundreds ;  but  as  fast  as  the 
advanced  files  thus  melted  away  swarms  of  fresh  men  poured  up  from 
the  rear.  They  only  served  to  feed,  however,  the  awful  harvest  of 
death ;  yet,  still  pushing  forward,  the  mass  of  them  at  last  appeared  to 
be  gaining  ground. 

Reinforcements  were  now  also  freely  pushed  up  on  the  Turkish  side, 
with  the  effect  of  feeding  afresh  the  tremendous  rifle  fire  maintained  in 
the  trenches.  The  nearer  approach  of  the  Russian  swarm  of  stormers 
to  that  white  and  red  line  of  flame  and  smoke,  and  the  bursting  forth, 
as  it  seemed,  everywhere  of  redoubled  volleys,  made  this  moment 
supreme.  Clouds  of  Russians  were  now  quite  close  to  the  edges  of  the 
trenches,  near  enough,  indeed,  to  enable  the  officers  who  led  them  to 
make  a  visible  employment  of  the  revolvers  which  they  brandished. 
Amid  ever-increasing  slaughter  on  both  sides,  the  Turkish  line  once 
again  received  reinforcements,  and  then  at  a  sudden  signal — raising  a 
tremendous  shout  of  "  Allah,  Allah !"  and  discharging  simultaneous 
volleys — they  leaped  over  the  lips  of  the  trenches  and  hurled  them- 
selves with  steel  and  clubbed  muskets  upon  the  Russians.  These  latter 
yielded  and  ran,  for  the  shock  was  intolerable,  the  ground  behind 
them  being  soon  literally  covered  with  their  dead  and  wounded  as 
they  went  down  under  this  onset,  or  were  shelled  from  the  redoubts 
while  flying  across  the  valley  to  the  wooded  hill  opposite. 

Meanwhile  the  attack  on  the  northern  side  of  Osman  Pasha's  great 
stronghold  was  developing  itself.  About  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
Adil  Pasha's  preparations  for  resistance  there  had  been  pretty  well 
completed.  The  tripled  demilunes  guarding  the  hills  had  been  filled 
to  their  utmost  possible  capacity  with  ranks  of  concealed  men;  a 
double  quantity  of  cartridges  had  been  served  out  to  every  soldier; 


532  OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 

and  the  batteries  above  were  all  lavishly  replenished  with  ammunition. 
The  Russians  now  came  on.  They  were  greatly  exposed  during  their 
passage  of  the  hollows  to  the  Ottoman  shell  fire,  which  from  the  first 
was  already  costing  their  advance  dearly. 

The  Russians  gradually  advanced,  keeping  their  order,  till  shortly 
before  four  o'clock  the  word  was  given  them  all  of  a  sudden  to  make 
a  grand  rush  upon  the  trenches.  It  was  a  splendid  and  thrilling,  but 
most  terrible  sight  to  see  the  long  lines  topping  the  brow  and  breaking 
into  the  critical  impulse  of  the  charge.  As  the  Russians  thus  accele- 
rated their  pace  the  Turks  in  the  trenches  opened  upon  them  a 
perfectly  consuming  fire  from  their  rifles,  the  eflfect  of  which  was 
literally  to  wipe  away  line  after  line  of  those  doomed  Muscovites  as 
they  successively  appeared  upon  the  ridge  of  the  hill.  Each  successive 
Russian  battalion,  as  it  bravely  crowned  that  fatal  plateau,  was  mown 
down  by  the  deadly  fire  as  ridges  of  wheat  go  prone  to  the  earth 
before  reapers.  Again  and  again,  it  seemed  that  scarcely  a  single  man 
stood  up  alive  after  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  one  of  these  tempests 
of  bullets.  The  Turkish  officers,  meantime,  with  a  calmness  worthy 
of  the  cool  and  sturdy  stuflT  that  they  commanded,  directed  their  men 
to  -load  and  fire  as  steadily  as  possible,  and  to  hold  the  muzzles  of 
their  rifles  low  down  at  the  waistbelts  of  their  foe. 

Nevertheless,  though  the  leading  Russian  files  thus  faded  away  from 
the  front  of  the  Turkish  trenches,  the  same  tactics  of  reinforcen:ients 
were  being  pursued;  and,  augmented  by  ever  fresh  bodies  of  men, 
another  and  another  attack  was  delivered  on  the  northern  face.  The 
results  were  always  exactly  the  same.  Their  devotion  and  desperation 
could  not  carry  them  past  the  edge  of  those  clouds  of  smoke ;  and  the 
moment  came  here  also  when  the  Turks,  with  a  loud  cry  of  victory, 
dashed  outside  their  cover  and  furiously  swept  the  remnants  of  their 
enemy  from  the  hill,  scarcely  nuraberi^Jg  now  more  than  a  few  hun- 
dreds of  survivors. 

After  this  exciting  business  there  came  upou  the  scene  of  battle  for 
some  time  a  period  of  comparative  peace,  interrupted  only  by  sullen 
cannon-firing.  This  lasted  for  a  certain  interval,  when  by-and-by 
news  was  brought  to  the  outlook,  where  Osraan  Pasha  watched  the 
whole  warlike  scene,  that  the  Russians  were  advancing  yet  again  on 
the  Loftcha  side.  Once  more,  therefore,  the  trenches  were  silently 
filled  up  on  the  threatened  face,  and  this  time  the  assault  of  the  Rus- 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE   PLEVNA. 


533 


Native  Turkish  Troops  Foraging  on  the  March. 

sians  proved,  if  possible,  more  than  ever  furious,  and  was  supported  in 
greater  numbers  than  before.  A  flank  attack  on  the  western  side  of 
the  ridge  was  moreover  combined  with  the  movement;  the  object  being 
to  seize  some  outlying  redoubts,  which  were  the  weakest  part  of  the 
Turkish  position,  because  the  approaches  to  them  were  covered  for 
some  distance  by  a  low  scrub.  This  part  of  the  ground  had  been 
entrusted  to  Bashi-Bazouks,  while  the  Turkish  regulars  manned  the 
redoubts  and  entrenchments  beyond.  The  Russians  moved  up  a  whole 
division  fof  this  part  of  their  effort,  advancing  rapidly  on  the  front 
and  flank  of  the  outlying  redoubts.  They  were  met,  as  heretofore,  by 
a  heavy  shell  fire  from  the  batteries,  and  a  well-sustained  storm  of  rifle 
bullets  from  the  pits ;  and,  although  some  of  Osman's  troops  engaged 
were  now  grievously  fatigued,  the  attack  upon  the  front  of  the  trenches 
was  again  and  again  repulsed  with  fearful  slaughter,  the  Turks  cheer- 
ing loudly  as  the  evening  slowly  fell.  Suddenly  the  Bashi-Bazouks, 
being  unexpectedly  assailed,  fled  in  a  panic,  leaving  the  important 
point  they  held  in  the  hands  of  the  Russians,  who,  pouring  after  thera 


534  OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 

in  enormous  numbers,  rushed  upon  and  into  the  redoubt  higher  up, 
which  the  Turks,  half  surprised,  were  unable  to  deny  to  them,  and 
consequently  retired  or  fell,  fighting  hand-to-hand,  the  assailants 
swarming  in  and  extending  their  temporary  advantage  afterwards  to 
the  possession  of  two  other  redoubts,  which  were  seized  and  filled  with 
their  men. 

All  night  long  a  desultory  struggle  went  on.  Wednesday  morning 
dawned,  and  found  the  Turkish  commander  gloomy  and  taciturn,  but 
wrathfully  determined  to  recover  the  compromised  points  of  his  defence. 
Orders  were  given  by  Osman  to  Emin  and  Thahir  Pashas  to  attack 
the  lost  hillock  with  twenty  battalions.  The  fight  began  with  the  very 
first  clear  streaks  of  light  in  the  sky,  the  Russians  resisting  all  the 
more  desperately  because  during  the  night  they  had  managed  to  throw 
up  rough  ramparts  of  earth  in  reverse  of  the  captured  position.  The 
Turks,  nevertheless,  gradually  recovered  line  after  line  of  the  entrench- 
ments, till  at  midday  they  were  well  lodged  near  the  top  of  the 
eminence,  the  Russians  still  holding  its  wooded  shoulder  and  also  the 
redoubts  on  the  ridges,  in  which  spots  the  headquarter  camp  and  other 
neighboring  batteries  fiercely  shelled  them  with  a  precision  costing 
them  terrible  sacrifices. 

At  two  o'clock  the  Ottoman  soldiers  had  got  as  far  as  the  scrub, 
and  fresh  troops  were  being  sent  round  to  help  them  by  attacking  the 
Russians  in  the  rear.  The  Muscovites,  also  largely  reinforced,  once 
and  a^in  drove  back  from  the  disputed  redoubts  their  sturdy  antag- 
onists, who,  however,  on  each  occasion  retired  only  to  return  with 
fresh  cheers,  till  they  stood  firm  at  last  under  cover  of  the  wood.  At 
three  o'clock  the  ferocious  combat  reached  its  culminating  point,  for 
stoutly  as  the  Russians  tried  to  hold  their  conquest,  they  were  at  last 
hurled  out  beyond  rampart  and  trench,  doing  the  utmost  that  courage 
permitted,  but  utterly  unable  to  resist  the  indomitable  resolve  of  the 
Osmanlis.  About  this  time  also  two  fresh  Turkish  battalions  came  up 
in  rear  of  the  wood,  and  when  the  bugles  sounded  clear  above  the 
thunder  of  battle  the  notes  of  the  Turkish  charge— that  never-to-be- 
forgotten  cry  of  "  Allah!"  "Allah!"— echoed  again  along  all  the  line, 
and  Osman's  men,  sweeping  forward  at  the  top  of  their  speed,  thrust 
down  the  hill  the  last  throngs  of  the  lingering  Russian  resistance.  The 
soldiers  of  the  Czar  now  flung  away  their  arms  and  scampered  down 
the  incline,  leaving  their  guns  and  everything  belonging  to  them  in 


OPERATIONS  BEFORE  PLEVNA. 


585 


the  battery.  The  Turks,  in  the  pursuit,  strewed  the  glacis  of  the 
redoubts  with  flying  Russians,  and  it  seemed  that  those  who  escaped 
were  saved  chiefly  by  the  energetic  fire  opened  from  the  Russian 
batteries. 

Thus  Wednesday  saw  almost  all  the  slight  losses  of  Tuesday's  fight- 
ing triumphantly  repaired.  On  Thursday,  and  also  during  part  of 
Friday,  the  Russians  feebly  and,  as  it  were,  formally  bombarded  the 
Turkish  headquarter  camp  from  the  northeastern  side,  without  any 
result. 


BOMBARDMENr  Oi    I  LbTvULK— bLLNE  IN  A  TURKISH   MILITARY   HOSPITAL. 


536"  AROUND  KARS. 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

AROUND  KARS. 

We  left  the  contending  armies  in  Asia  after  the  engagement  of  the 
2  2d  of  June,  in  which  Mukhtar  Pasha  avenged  the  defeat  of  Delibaba 
by  turning  on  the  Russian  left  wing.  On  Sunday  and  Monday,  June 
24th  and  25th,  the  Muscovites  made  a  desperate  attack  on  Kars. 

Fort  Tachmos  is  one  of  the  strongest  and  best-constructed  tabias 
protecting  Kars.  It  commands  the  road  to  Erzeroum,  and  connects 
its  fire  with  that  of  the  outer  entrenchments  on  the  west  side  of  the 
town.  To  reduce  this  stronghold,  in  the  first  place,  the  Russians  had 
concentrated  their  efforts  during  the  progress  of  the  siege.  On  the 
days  named  above,  they  renewed  their  attempts,  with  increased  forces, 
to  storm  it.  The  Turks  received  each  assault  with  equal  determina- 
tion, repelling  the  besiegers  with  heavy  loss. 

Finally,  on  the  26th,  the  supreme  effort  was  made  with  no  better 
success.  The  Turks,  availing  themselves  of  the  ojDportunity  afforded 
by  the  serious  repulse  they  had  inflicted,  made  a  sortie  in  great  force, 
charging  the  Muscovites,  whilst  from  the  entrenchments  and  fort  a 
destructive  fire  was  poured  out  on  the  retreating  Russians. 

Disorganized  by  the  impetuous  sortie  before  they  had  time  to  recover 
from  the  effects  of  the  repulse,  and  subjected  to  the  raking  cannonade 
of  the  fort  and  batteries,  the  Russians  made  a  hasty  escape  by  the 
Erzeroum  road,  the  pursuit  having  terminated  within  range  of  the 
heavy  guns. 

Meanwhile,  at  Zivin,  a  general  action  was  being  fought  between 
General  Loris  Melikoff  and  Ismail  Pasha.  A  most  obstinate  combat 
was  here  maintained,  with,  for  a  time,  doubtful  results  to  either  side. 
The  latter,  however,  ultimately  out-manoeuvred  his  opponent,  and, 
attacking  him  with  great  vigor,  accomplished  his  defeat,  inflicting 
losses  estimated  at  four  thousand  men,  including  two  generals  of 
division.  On  the  29th,  under  the  cover  of  darkness.  General  Melikoff* 
made  a  precipitate  retreat,  abandoning  his  tents,  ammunition,  and  a 
large  quantity  of  provisions. 

Saturday  and  Sunday  following,  the  Turkish  right  wing  took  the 


AROUND  KARS.  537 

offensive  against  the  other  Russian  force  at  Karakilissa.  Here  the 
latter  made  a  desperate  effort  to  maintain  its  ground,  being  entrenched 
in  this  place.  Sunday  afternoon  the  Ottoman  commander,  under 
cover  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire,  threw  his  entire  force  against  the  Rus- 
sian position,  moving  double-quick  to  the  attack  with  the  cry  of 
"Allah!"  So  impetuous,  and  apparently  unexpected,  was  the  charge 
of  the  Turks,  that  the  defenders,  terror-stricken,  ceased  firing,  and 
decamped,  leaving  their  dead  and  wounded,  and  many  actually  threw 
aAvay  their  arms.  They  were  hotly  pursued,  and  lost  many  prisoners. 
During  Sunday  night  they  continued  their  retreat,  having  burnt  their 
tents.  They  threw  rifles,  ammunition,  and  everything  that  could 
encumber  them  into  the  river,  exploded  their  field  magazines,  and  left 
behind  them  large  stores  of  provisions,  including  flour,  biscuit,  and 
other  eatables. 

The  Circassians  followed  closely  on  the  flank  of  the  retreating 
army,  capturing  the  stragglers  and  inflicting  some  additional  losses. 
Faick  Pasha,  coming  from  Bayazid,  tried  to  intercept  this  Russian 
column;  whilst  Moussa  Pasha  followed  closely  on  the  Russian  left 
flank ;  and  Mukhtar  Pasha  pursued  the  forces  in  his  front  into  the 
very  plains  of  Kars. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  Mukhtar  Pasha,  having  entrenched  the  posi- 
tions occupied  by  his  army,  effected  a  junction  with  Kars,  after  it  had 
been  bombarded  for  nineteen  days. 

During  this  period  the  Russians  testified  their  ardor  by  launching 
each  day  about  two  thousand  balls  upon  the  town;  but  with  the 
exception  of  missiles  discharged  from  the  heavy  Krupp  guns,  they 
appear  not  to  have  done  a  great  deal  of  damage,  owing,  it  is  said,  to 
the  rapidity  with  which  the  Turkish  gunners  interrupted  the  Russian 
aim.  A  tempest  of  shot  and  shell  flew  completely  over  the  citadel 
into  the  cemetery  at  the  back,  and  although  heaps  of  dust  thrown  up 
into  the  air,  and  loud  explosions  constantly  disturbed  the  ground  at 
the  foot  of  the  hill  crowned  by  the  "  keep,"  very  little  damage  was 
done  to  the  latter  place.  Notwithstanding  the  length  of  the  siege, 
together  with  the  violence  of  the  cannonade,  the  loss  in  soldiers  as 
well  as  in  civilians,  counting  both  killed  and  wounded,  only  amounted 
to  a  hundred  and  thirty,  among  whom  were  a  few  women ;  and  it  is 
likely  that  if  the  Russians  had  continued  the  siege  for  twenty  days 
more  a  want  of  ammunition  would  have  silenced  the  Krupp  guns. 


538 


AROUND  KARS. 


AROUND  KARS.  539 

If,  -when  the  frontier  was  passed  on  April  24th,  the  Muscovites  had 
acted  vigorously  and  had  made  a  sudden  assault  upon  the  town  of 
Kars,  it  is  probable  that,  with  no  greater  loss  than  that  of  about  two 
thousand  men,  they  might  have  become  masters  of  it;  and  had  such  a 
shock  to  the  Turkish  power  in  Armenia  been  suddenly  dealt,  it  seems 
equally  certain,  and  particularly  as  only  six  heavy  siege-train  guns 
had  then  been  got  into  position  for  its  protection,  that  the  town  of 
Erzeroum  might  have  been  taken  with  comparatively  little  difficulty. 
It  is  evident  that  the  calculations  of  Guy  man,  chief  of  the  staff— based 
on  the  supposition  that  Kars  could  not  hold  out  for  twenty  days — by 
deceiving  Melikoff,  caused  him  to  alter  his  original  idea  of  a  rapid 
advance  on  Erzeroum;  and  afterwards — to  his  great  astonishment — 
discovering  the  courage  and  obstinacy  with  which  Turks  can  defend 
fortifications,  as  well  as  the  admirable  manner  in  which  they  worked 
and  stood  to  their  guns,  he  made  a  dash  on  Ardahan,  the  small  and 
feebly  commanded  garrison  of  which  rendered  it  a  very  easy  prey. 
As  most  of  the  Russian  spies  were  Armenians,  hating  the  Turks  with 
extreme  violence,  and  longing  for  their  destruction,  they,  in  order  to 
bring  about  as  quickly  as  possible  the  consummation  of  their  hopes, 
and  perhaps,  like  most  men,  expressing  their  wishes  under  the  guise 
of  an  opinion,  declared  that  the  garrison,  being  on  half  rations,  could 
not  possibly  hold  out  for  a  period  of  even  two  months,  although  it 
afterward  appeared  that  nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth,  and 
that  the  garrison  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  suffered  no  greater  priva- 
tions than  such  as  are  usual  in  Armenia.  These  rumors  were  even 
believed  by  the  Turks  themselves,  notwithstanding  the  probability  of 
the  town,  being  provided  with  an  abundance,  holding  out  a  fair 
prospect  of  resistance  till  the  end  of  the  campaign.  The  town  might, 
however,  have  easily  been  kept  in  check  by  a  small  blockading  force, 
and  even  if  twenty  days  after  his  invasion  Melikoff  had  moved  dili- 
gently through  the  Soghanli  Dagh  he  might  have  confined  the  Mushir 
in  the  Valley  of  Bardegand.  As  the  latter  only  received  his  scanty 
supply  of  provisions  from  day  to  day  the  Russian  would  have  obliged 
him,  in  spite  of  his  entrenched  position,  to  capitulate  in  about  a  fort- 
night. For  upwards  of  two  months  the  operations  of  the  Muscovites 
were  conducted  with  slothfulness  and  timidity;  but  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Turks  cannot  be  applauded  for  either  foresight  or  organiza- 
tion, the  manner  in  which  they  hurried  tribes  of  barbarians  into  the 


540  AROUND  KARS. 

field  is  an  evidence  of  the  great  vitality  of  that  martial  nation  which, 
if  directed  by  a  body  of  efficient  ofiicers,  would  astonish  with  the 
rapidity  and  brilliancy  of  their  exploits  all  those  people  who  look 
upon  the  Ottomans  as  quite  effete. 

■  The  march  of  General  Tergukasofi"  towards  the  Russian  frontier  was 
embarrassed  by  the  task  of  protecting  three  thousand  Armenian  families 
who  were  fleeing  from  the  valley  of  Alashgerd  to  escape  the  cruelties 
of  the  Bashi-Bazouks  and  Kurds  who  were  massacreiug  the  inhabitants 
of  whole  villages;  but  at  length  he  succeeded  in  placing  these  fugitives 
with  his  sick  and  the  wounded  in  safety.  While  thus  encumbered  he 
was  unable  freely  to  repel  the  attack  to  which  he  was  subjected, 
and  his  rear  was  much  harassed.  Relieved  at  length  of  anxiety  on 
account  of  these  proteges,  he  led  his  little  army  to  Igdyr,  where  he 
arrived  on  th  8th  at  five  p.m.  Having  completed  the  renewal  of  his 
supplies  at  Igdyr,  and  learned  there  that  General  Kalbolaikan  had 
started  on  the  7th  for  Bayazid,  he  set  out  with  his  detachment  to 
follow  him.  At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  10th,  having  with 
him  eight  battalions  of  infantry,  twenty-four  guns,  fifteen  sotnias  of 
Cossacks,  and  four  squadrons  of  cavalry,  he  attacked  a  Corps  of  thirteen 
thousand  men  which  was  besieging  the  citadel  of  Bayazid.  After  eight 
hours  cannonade  the  Russian  troops  took  by  storm  the  heights  com- 
manding the  town,  defeated  the  enemy,  and  put  them  to  flight.  Four 
cannon  were  captured,  with  a  large  quantity  of  ammunition  and 
provisions.  The  garrison,  with  the  sick  and  wounded,  were  taken 
away,  and  the  Turks  made  a  hasty  retreat. 

On  the  19th  of  August  the  Russians  advanced  in  force  from  the 
village  of  Suediklar  against  the  right  of  Mukhtar  Pasha's  positions, 
their  intention  apparently  being  to  recommence  the  invasion  of  Asia  as 
before.  They  struck  their  tents,  broke  up  their  camp,  and  prepared 
in  every  way  for  an  advance.  The  strength  of  the  Russian  force  was 
forty  battalions  of  infantry,  ten  regiments  of  cavalry,  and  ninety-six 
guns.  The  battle  was  begun  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  by  three 
divisions  of  infantry,  supported  by  thirty-six  guns,  attacking  the 
Turkish  entrenched  position  at  Nakhirdji,  a  kind  of  redoubt  faced  by 
semicircular  trenches.  The  Russian  commander  did  not  expose  their 
troops  in  the  usual  manner,  and  apparently  feared  to  send  the  infantry 
up  the  hill  in  anything  like  dense  masses,  owing  to  the  destructive  fire 
of  the  Turkish  artillery.     Reinforced  by  another  division,  Mukhtar 


AROUND   KARS. 


541 


542  AROUND  KARS. 

Pasha  began  a  slight  forward  movement,  and  his  infantry  pushing 
down  hill  somewhat  rapidly,  endeavored  to  attack  the  Russians, 
who  however,  withdrew,  and  after  midday  ceased  firing,  leaving  the 
the  Turks  at  the  foot  of  the  slope. 

Some  time  afterwards,  however,  another  strong  Russian  division 
was  seen  advancing  on  the  Turkish  extreme  left.  Mukhtar  Pasha 
immediately  ordered  forward  reinforcements  from  the  centre,  which 
were  sent  to  the  aid  of  Hussein  Pasha.  Haddij's  division  being  already 
in  possession  of  the  hill,  two  divisions  under  the  command  of  Mustapha 
Tewfik  and  the  force  under  Reschid  Pasha  were  detailed  to  support 
him,  whilst  Chevket  Pasha,  with  one  brigade,  made  a  detour  for  the 
purpose  of  operating  on  the  Russian  rear.  Meanwhile  the  Russians 
pushed  over  the  valley  in  front  of  the  Turkish  position,  keeping  both 
men  and  guns  well  under  cover  and  advancing  rapidly.  The  Turks 
remaining  in  the  trenches  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  approaching 
troops,  who  once  more  hesitated  to  commence  the  attack,  although 
frequently  dense  masses  of  soldiery  could  be  indistinctly  seen  hidden 
away  in  the  hollows  of  their  ground.  At  eleven  o'clock,  however, 
the  battle  was  raging  simultaneously  along  the  whole  line  with  the 
exception  of  the  centre,  the  two  hills  right  and  left  being  subjected  to 
a  tremendous  artillery  fire.  About  mid-day,  just  as  the  Russian  left 
ceased  firing,  the  Turkish  left  advanced  to  attack  the  Russian  right, 
the  son  of  Scharayl  with  the  Circassians  meanwhile  threatening  the 
Russian  extreme  flank.  The  Turks  moved  forward  cautiously,  but, 
firing  rapidly,  drove  their  foe  from  the  foot  of  the  hill  across  the 
valley,  the  Circassians  making  frequent  charges,  tending  greatly  to 
the  demoralization  of  the  Muscov  troops.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon the  Turkish  right  also  made  a  forward  movement,  and,  no 
resistance  being  offered,  the  Turkish  left  continued  to  advance,  having 
in  the  meantime  been  heavily  reinforced  by  artillery.  Presently  the 
firing  of  distant  guns  on  the  extreme  left  announced  that  Chevket 
Pasha  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the  rear  of  the  Russians.  The  whole 
Turkish  line  then  pressed  forward,  cheering  loudly,  but  still  keeping 
well  under  cover;  whilst  the  Circassians  made  continued  charges. 
Before  this  demonstration,  the  Russians  fell  back  rapidly,  yet  in  good 
order.  They  were  utterly  unable  to  hold  any  position  for  many 
minutes  together;  and  the  Turkish  artillery,  getting  a  view  of  the 
retreating  masses  of  infantry,  poured  in  a  heavy  fire,  before  which 


AROUND  KARS.  643 

the  Russians  retired  as  quickly  as  possible,  all  the  while  being  con- 
siderably harassed  by  Schamyl's  son  and  Chevket  Pasha.  At  six 
o'clock  the  fight  ended,  the  Turks  holding  the  ground,  upon  which 
the  Russians  left  about  one  thousand  bodies. 

At  dawn  on  the  25th,  Mukhtar  Pasha,  with  all  his  forces,  attacked 
the  positions  held  by  General  Loris  MelikofF.  Previous  to  the  engage- 
ment the  Turkish  position  extended  from  the  neighborhood  of  the 
ancient  city  of  Ani,  now  dismal  ruins,  on  the  Arpatchy  River,  to  the 
vicinity  of  Kars,  from  which  fortress  the  supplies  were  drawn.  The 
main  force,  however,  leaned  its  left  wing  on  the  mountain  branch 
ending  in  a  high  hill  called  the  Yaghny.  On  another  steep  hill,  the 
Kizil  Tepe  (Red  Hill),  which,  in  an  entirely  isolated  position,  towers 
above  the  Kuruk  Dara  plateaux,  almost  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
military  positions,  the  Russian  Commander-in-Chief,  General  Loris 
Melikoff,  had  established  his  headquarters.  It  was  usually  occupied 
by  a  single  battalion  and  four  field  pieces,  and  was  thus  considered  as 
almost  impregnable.  On  account  of  its  commanding  position  over  the 
surrounding  flats  and  undulating  grounds  it  was  well  worth  particular 
attention,  especially  as  the  camp  at  Bashkladnyklar,  which  was  under 
the  fire  of  its  artillery,  was  only  about  two  miles  distant  from  its 
northern  slope. 

The  time  selected  for  the  attack  was  a  bright  moonlight  night.  The 
mountains  and  plains  were  almost  as  distinctly  visible  as  in  daytime. 
Availing  themselves  of  this  circumstance,  at  two  or  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning  on  the  25th  of  August,  about  seven  thousand  Turks  crept 
Sftealthily,  in  a  compact,  noiseless  mass,  through  a  dark,  deep  ravine, 
without  being  observed  by  the  pickets  and  patrols,  till  they  arrived 
at  the  very  foot  of  the  Kizil  Tepe.  Here  deploying,  they  made  a 
sudden  rush,  savagely  yelling  their  "Allah-il- Allah!''  on  the  eight 
Russian  companies  which  were  stationed  on  the  summit.  These  men, 
though  surprised,  defended  themselves  courageously  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet  without  yielding  an  inch.  Hundreds  of  Turks  who  a  few 
seconds  before  dashed  fiercely  on  with  the  rifle  in  their  hands  fell  to 
rise  no  more.  At  last,  however,  as  the  fast  increasing  force  threatened 
to  outflauk  and  envelope  them  altogether,  the  Russians  were  compelled 
to  retreat  to  the  camp  at  Bashkladnyklar,  protecting  and  dragging 
away  their  four  cannons.  Here  the  alarm  was  given,  and,  as  quickly 
as  possible,  infantry  and  dragoons  marched  to  the  rescue,  and  stormed 


544 


AROUND   KARS. 


-\Pi' 


AROUND  KARS.  545 

the  hill  with  dauntless  courage,  in  the  hope  of  recovering  it  in  the  way 
in  which  it  had  been  lost.  In  spite  of  their  heroic  efforts,  however, 
they  were  repeatedly  repulsed  by  overwhelming  numbers.  The  whole 
hill  was  like  a  beehive,  thickly  thronged  with  enemies,  and  had  they 
persisted  in  their  gallant  attempt  they  would  have  all  been  exter- 
minated. In  the  meanwhile  the  principal  Russian  forces  encamped  at 
Kuruk  Dara  had  been  roused,  and  battalions,  squadrons,  batteries, 
with  ammunition  carts  and  red  cross  wagons  behind,  hastened  in  long 
columns  into  the  field.  The  Kizil  Tepe  was  now  encircled,  top  and 
bottom,  by  two  girdles  of  smoke  and  flames.  On  its  rocky  bastion-like 
summit,  stood  thickly  crowded  Turkish  soldiers,  under  the  cover  of 
the  opposite  slope,  and  fired  their  rifles,  aiming  down  into  a  ravine 
across  which  the  Russian  Tiflis  regiment  struggled  heroically,  but  in 
vain,  to  reconquer  the  lost  position.  The  very  steep,  rocky  slope  of 
the  hill  on  that  side  rendered  this  task  almost  impossible.  In  the 
Turkish  ranks  could  be  seen  an  imaum,  with  turban  and  flowing  gown 
lifting  his  hands  in  fanatical  ecstacy  above  the  devoted  children  of  the 
faith,  exciting  them  to  withstand  the  arms  of  the  Moscow  giaour,  in 
Allah's  and  the  Prophet's  name.  On  some  other  parts  of  the  battle- 
field Mohammedan  priests  were  equally  observed  in  the  foremost  lines, 
animating  timid  recruits  by  fervent  words  of  faith.  One  of  these 
priests  was  shot. 

The  Turks  evidently  meant  to  crush  their  weakened  adversaries  by 
a  general  attack,  and  so  they  employed  all  imaginable  means  to  secure 
success.  Many  battalions,  emerging  by  scores  together,  and  thousands 
of  irregular  horsemen,  descended  the  mountain  and  were  brought  at 
once  into  action.  The  whole  long  line — twelve  miles — from  the 
neighborhood  of  Ani  up  to  the  Kaback  Tepe,  near  to  the  road  to  Kars, 
was  swarming  with  Mussulmans.  On  the  summit  of  that  eminence, 
situated  two  miles  to  the  right  of  the  Yaghny  Hill,  three  new  bat- 
talions and  clusters  of  cavalry  appeared,  with  the  view  to  outflank  the 
Russian  army  and  capture  their  camp  at  Kuruk  Dara.  Their  general 
advance,  however,  was  thoroughly  checked  as  soon  as  the  Russian 
columns  of  combined  arms,  the  battalions,  squadrons  and  batteries 
which  left  the  camp,  had  the  necessary  time  to  march  to  the  encounter. 
In  the  Russian  order  of  battle  the  extreme  left  was  held  by  two 
regiments  of  dragoons,  then  followed  the  remaining  brigade  of  General 
PeveFs  division,  and  next  to  it  in  the  centre  Colonel  Komarofi''s  five 
35 


546  AROUND  KARS. 

valiant  battalions  which  have  seen  hard  work  ever  since  Ardahan. 
Connected  with  them  and  directing  its  front  line  against  the  Yaghny 
hills,  the  division  of  grenadiers  operated  with  one  of  its  brigades  while 
the  other  remained  in  reserve.  The  extreme  right  was  secured  by- 
three  regiments  of  Caucasian  regular  Cossack  cavalry  and  their  horse 
artillery.  Numerous  troops  besides  protected  the  camp.  It  took  some 
hours  before  those  masses  were  all  able  to  meet  the  Turkish  lines,  on 
account  of  the  considerable  distance  which  originally  separated  the 
combatants.  In  the  meantime  the  now  exposed  camp  at  Bashklad- 
nyklar  was  broken  up.  Thousands  of  carts  and  wagons  transported 
the  tents  and  the  baggage  to  Kuruk  Dara.  Again  and  again  the  Rus- 
sians tried  to  reconquer  the  Kizil  Tepe  by  storming,  while  shells  and 
shrapnells  were  showered  upon  its  ridge,  but  again  and  again  they 
were  repelled  by  the  defenders,  who  stood,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  behind 
its  rocky  edge.  On  a  sudden,  shortly  after  the  last  assault,  which  was 
supported  and  followed  by  the  play  of  two  batteries,  thick  white  smoke 
rose  on  the  summit,  and  a  long  flame  carried  it  to  the  skies.  Frag- 
ments of  carriages  and  limbs  of  horses  and  men  were  scattered  in  all 
directions,  or  flew  up  to  the  clouds.  It  was  clear  that  stores  of 
ammunition  or  a  powder  cart  had  exploded,  ignited  by  a  Russian  shell. 
A  short  time  afterwards,  as  regiment  after  regiment  entered  succes- 
sively the  line  of  battle,  the  roar  of  the  fighting  extended  gradually 
from  the  Russian  left  to  the  centre.  It  was,  however,  obvious  that 
before  the  Yaghny  the  fate  of  the  day  was  to  be  decided,  because  from 
that  part  of  their  position  only  the  Turks  might  have  had  a  cliance 
of  forcing  the  camp,  as  it  is  quite  open  and  unprotected  in  that  direc- 
tion. Yet  long  ere  the  Tirailleurs  there  had  mingled  their  fire  with 
the  boom  of  their  cannon  and  the  cracking  of  their  shells,  Colonel 
Komarofi"s  brigade  in  the  centre  was  engaged  in  sharp  infantry 
fighting.  Steadily  the  Russians  gained  ground,  and  drove  the  Turks 
over  the  flats  and  the  undulations  till  they  reached  the  broad  ravine 
of  Soubatan,  at  the  foot  of  the  Aaladja  Mountain.  In  this  narrow 
valley,  studded  at  its  opposite  side  with  entrenchments  and  batteries, 
the  battle  came  to  a  standstill.  Had  it  not  been  for  an  express  order 
to  abstain  from  advancing  beyond,  it  is  highly  probable  that  Mukhtar 
Pasha's  camp  might  have  fallen  into  Colonel  Komarofi"s  hands.  All 
energy  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  Turks  had  decidedly  been 
broken ;  they  ceased  fighting,  and  retired  in  disorder.     Their  dead  lay 


AROUND  KARS. 


547 


A  Tartar  Family. 


648 


AROUND  EARS. 


A  Mountain  Battery  LEA^aNG  Constantinople  for  the  Defense  of 
THE  Balkans. 

in  rows  in  the  valley,  and  the  survivors  were  glad  to  get  out  of  the 
rifle  range.  In  consequence  of  this  mutual  pause  on  different  grounds, 
the  fighting  died  out  there  at  half-past  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

While  thus  the  struggle  was  going  on  in  the  centre,  the  grenadiers 
fell  in  with  the  Turks.  After  a  brisk  cannonade  with  smart  shell  and 
shrapnel  practice  the  deadly  rifle  firing  was  going  on  in  an  uninter- 
rupted line  stretching  two  miles  on  either  side,  front  against  front. 
Like  a  light  morning  mist  the  smoke  was  wafted  over  the  hostile 
forces,  and  prevented  them  from  taking  good  aim.  The  Turks  had 
evidently  brought  forth  their  picked  men,  several  Arabian  battalions, 
which  fought  with  resolute  stubbornness,  as  they  are  accustomed  to  do 
on  all  occasions,  thus  constituting  beyond  doubt  the  Sultan's  best 
troops.  Notwithstanding  their  superior  numbers  and  the  bravery 
they  displayed,  they  could  not  hold  their  ground  for  more  than  a 
single  hour,  and  then  were  compelled  to  fall  back  to  their  rifle  pits 
and  entrenchments  at  the  foot  of  the  Yaghny  hills.  Worn  out  by  the 
want  of  food  and  water,  having  had  all  day  a  sun  burning  like  a 
red-hot  iron  over  their  heads,  both  antagonists  were  at  last  satisfied  to 


AROUND  EARS. 


549 


■550  AROUND  KARS. 

see  themselves  finally  separated  from  each  other  by  intervening  hil- 
locks. AVhile  the  infantry  rested,  completely  exhausted  by  the  heat 
and  the  work,  the  cannons  still  thundered  continuously  over  the  whole 
line,  but  with  considerable  less  intensity  than  in  the  morning.  Finally 
the  Turks  moved,  with  three  fresh  battalions  and  over  a  thousand 
horse,  down  the  Kaback  hill  on  their  left  endeavoring  to  outflank  the 
Russians  there.  The  wild,  irregular  riders,  in  their  fantastical  gar- 
ments, galloped  down  until  they  came,  unexpectedly,  in  sight  of  the 
three  Caucasian  Cossack  regiments.  Quietly  they  stood  in  the  valley, 
drawn  in  separate  lines,  with  two  batteries  of  horse  artillery  in  the 
interstices.  The  Bashi-Bazouks,  one  after  the  other,  as  they  rode  on 
stopped  their  horses,  fired  their  rifles  at  the  enemy,  who  did  not  even 
reply,  and  turned  back  at  full  speed  in  order  to  give  to  their  expectant 
comrades  the  dismal  news  that  the  time  for  plundering  the  Russiaa 
camp  at  Kuruk  Dara  had  not  come  yet.  They  apparently  judged 
that  the  Russian  cavalry  was  more  than  a  match  for  them,  and  in  this 
conviction  they  united  again  in  squadrons,  and  thought  it  prudent  to 
wait,  under  the  cover  of  a  concealed  battery,  for  their  enemies'  onset. 
The  Russian  regiments,  however,  warned  by  some  shells  from  above 
that  they  were  likely  to  fall  into  an  ambush  of  artillery  and  infantry, 
did  not  stir.  So  the  fighting  ceased  at  four  o'clock  p.m.  on  the  whole 
line  in  the  same  succession  as  it  had  begun,  from  the  Russian  left  to 
their  right.  The  result  was  negative.  Although  the  Russian  troops 
had  repulsed,  with  great  slaughter  and  remarkable  pluck,  the  general 
attack  of  the  Turks,  and  had  remained  for  four  hours  on  the  battle-field, 
from  which  they  had  victoriously  driven  their  foe,  they  had  been,  for 
all  that,  incapable  of  wresting  the  principal  point,  the  Kizil  Tepe  Hill, 
out  of  Turkish  hands.  Mukhtar  Pasha  did  not  hesitate  to  avail 
himself  of  the  advantageous  position  which  he  had  obtained,  and  on 
the  next  day  shifted  his  whole  camp  down  to  the  plain,  where  his 
soldiers  were  not  exposed  to  the  cold  night  winds  as  on  the  mountain. 
Here,  as  the  Turks  have  systematically  done  during  this  war,  they 
began  entrenching  themselves  as  strongly  as  possible,  having  one  wing 
protected  by  the  Kizil  Tepe  and  the  other  by  the  Yaghny  Hill.  The 
force  which  the  Turks  brought  into  action  consisted  of  thirty  battalions 
of  infantry  and  eight  thousand  irregular  horsemen,  with  sixty  cannons. 
The  Russian  army  was  somewhat  inferior  in  number. 

During  the  remainder  of  August  and  September  the  movements  of 


AROUND  KARS. 


551 


A  Turkish  Bayonet  Charge  at  Shipka. 
the  armies  in  Asia  were  confined  to  desultory  attacks,  of  no  special 
significance  or  importance.  .  j  o        . 

The  Turks  having  reinforced  their  left  wing,  and  occupied  Target, 


552 


AROUND  KARS. 


A  POUND   KARS. 


553 


on  the  Kars  Eiver,  an  important  engagement  began  on  the  1st  of 
October,  with  a  skirmish  near  the  Arpa  Chai,  in  which  the  Russians 
were  worsted.  On  the  2d,  the  Russian  General  made  a  serious  attempt 
to  cut  off  the  Turks  from  Kars.  At  break  of  day  the  Russians 
captured  the  Great  Yaghni  Dagh,  but  their  attempt  on  the  Little 
Yaghni  failed.  They  also  occupied  Parget  and  Akchakala,  on  the 
Kars  River.  On  their  right  flank  the  Turks  not  only  resisted  the 
attack  of  the  Russians,  but  drove  them  back  as  far  as  the  Arpa  Chai. 


554 


AROUND  KARS. 


Colonel  Wkllesley  Inspecting  the  Grivitza  Redoubt. 

The  Russian  losses  on  this  day  were  sixty-nine  officers  and  three 
thousand  men  killed  and  wounded.  Next  day  there  was  but  little 
fighting  on  the  Russian  left;  the  Russians  retained  their  positions;  but 


AROVND  KARS. 


555 


Nil 


656 


AROUND  KARS. 


h.^^^ 


on  Thursday  the  battle  recommenced.  During  the  night  the  Kussians 
voluntarily  evacuated  their  positions  on  the  Great  Yaghni  Dagh, 
owing  to  want  of  water.  The  Turks  attacked  the  Eussian  centre, 
but  were  repulsed.     After  this,  on  the  following  day,  no  operation  of 


AROUND  KARS.  657 

importance  took  place;  but  in  the  evening  the  Russians  withdre-w 
most  of  their  forces  from  Parget,  on  the  Kars  River,  only  leaving 
there  an  advanced  guard  of  six  battalions. 

Matters  remained  comparatively  quiet,  ■without  any  important  in- 
cident, until  Sunday,  October  14th,  when  the  column  of  General 
Lazaroff,  which  was  operating  with  the  object  of  outflanking  the  Turks, 
occupied  the  heights  of  Orlok,  driving  out  the  Turkish  troops  and  com- 
pelling them  to  fall  back  in  the  direction  of  Kars  and  Vizinkoi.  As 
by  this  movement  part  of  the  Turkish  army  was  already  turned,  it  was 
decided  to  make  a  general  attack  upon  the  positions  of  Ahmed  Mukh- 
tar  Pasha,  of  which  the  fortified  hill  of  Evlias  formed  the  key.  On 
Mr)nday  morning,  therefore,  after  preparing  the  way  by  a  very  well 
directed  cannonade  the  Russians  commenced  a  general  attack.  In 
the  afternoon  General  Heimann  with  the  Erivan,  Grusien  and  Pjati- 
gorsk  regiments,  and  a  battalion  of  riflemen,  made  a  brilliant  attack 
upon  Mount  Evlias,  which  he  succeeded  in  carrying.  By  the  Russian 
occupation  of  this  position  Ahmed  Mukhtar  Pasha's  army  was  cut  in 
two.  That  part  of  his  army  which  retreated  in  the  direction  of  Kars 
was  attacked  by  the  troops  under  General  Lazaroff,  and  subsequently 
pursued  by  General  Heimann.  Towards  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
it  was  completely  beaten  and  dispersed,  losing  an  enormous  number 
killed,  several  thousand  prisoners,  and  four  guns.  At  the  same  time, 
the  three  Turkish  divisions  which  had  remained  on  the  Turkish  right 
flank  were  entirely  surrounded  and  driven  out  of  their  positions  on  the 
Aladja  Dagh,  with  great  loss,  and  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening 
were  compelled  to  surrender.  Among  the  numerous  prisoners  taken 
were  seven  Pashas.  The  Russians  also  captured  thirty-two  guns  and 
an  immense  quantity  of  war  material.  After  this  crushing  defeat 
Mukhtar  left  part  of  his  forces  at  Kars,  and  retreated  towards 
Erzeroum. 

After  the  battle  of  the  15th  the  main  body  of  the  Russian  army 
marched  over  the  heights  of  Vezinkoi  and  Orlok,  thus  leaving  Kars 
on  its  right,  and  operated  against  the  Turkish  positions  at  Madikars, 
Sarykamish,  and  ]Mazca.  The  troops  of  Ismail  Pasha,  numbering 
twenty-seven  battalions,  attacked  the  position  of  General  Tergukasoff 
on  the  14th.  Their  operations  were  principally  directed  against  the 
village  of  Chafaly,  but  they  were  everywhere  "driven  back  and  com- 
pelled to  retreat  to  their  entrenchments.     On  the  night  of  the  16th 


558 


AROUND  KARS. 


AROUND  KARS.  559     « 

Ismail  Pasha  evacuated  his  position  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain.  He 
was  pursued  during  his  retreat  by  General  Tergukasoti",  who  on  the 
18th  occupied  the  positions  on  the  heights  of  Sara  formerly  in  Turkish 
occupation.  But  Ismail  Pasha  subsequently  succeeded  in  rejoining 
Mukhtar  Pasha,  whose  army,  though  much  diminished  and  weakened, 
held  a  defensible  position  at  Zewiu,  on  the  mountain  road  half  way 
between  Kars  and  Erzeroum.  IS^o  engagement  took  place  until  the 
armies  met  at  Deve-Boyun,  near  Erzeroum,  on  the  4th  of  November. 
Mukhtar  was  routed,  and  retired  to  Erzeroum,  where  he  was  closely 
besieged. 

The  investment  of  Kars  began  soon  after  the  battle  of  Aladja  Dagh. 
The  Turks  made  a  sortie  from  the  entrenched  camp  southeast  of  the 
city,  but  were  repulsed.  The  Russians  continued,  however,  to  press  the 
siege,  and  finally  were  in  a  position  to  make  safely  the  general  assault 
which  ultimately  gave  them  possession  of  the  fortress. 

At  last,  on  Sunday,  the  18th  of  November,  after  a  battle  which 
lasted  twelve  hours,  the  fortress  was  captured  by  about  fifteen  thousand 
Russians,  who  climbed  the  steep  rocks,  ramparts  and  walls,  and 
stormed  an  equal  number  of  desperately  fighting  Turks  in  a  headlong 
flight  over  their  ditches  and  parapets,  compelling  them  to  die  or  sur- 
render. The  escalade  had  been  originally  fixed  for  the  13th,  but  it 
was  postponed  owing  to  bad  weather.  The  principal  attack  was  made 
on  the  southern  forts.  General  Lazaroff  commanded  the  right  wing, 
and  attacked  Hafiz  Pasha,  a  fort  crowning  a  steep  rocky  height. 
General  Count  Grabbe,  with  a  regiment  of  IMoscow  Grenadiers,  assailed 
in  the  centre  the  Kanli-Tabia,  the  three  towers  and  the  citadel.  The 
Ardahan  Brigade  and  another  regiment  of  Moscow  Grenadiers,  under 
Generals  Roop  and  Komaroff",  forming  the  left  wing,  assaulted  Fort 
Inglis  on  the  north. 

The  attack  began  in  the  centre  at  eight  o'clock  on  Saturday  evening^ 
November  17th,  when  Coi.nt  Grabbe  led  his  brigade  against  the  Kauli 
redoubt,  and  himself  fell  dead  at  the  first  onset,  pierced  by  a  bullet. 
Captain  Kwadmicki,  of  the  Tliirty-ninth  Regiment,  was  the  first  to 
enter  the  redoubt,  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  His  sword  was  cut  clean 
out  of  his  hand  and  his  clothes  pierced.  The  redoubt  surrendered  early 
in  the  morning,  and  then  the  three  towers,  almost  simultaneously  with 
the  capture  of  the  Kanli  redoubt. 

The  citadel,  Fort  Suiwarri,  and  Fort  Hafiz  Pasha,  were  carried  by 


560  AROUND  KARS. 

assault.  By  daylight  on  Sunday  morning,  General  Lazaroff's  troops 
had  made  progress  as  far  as  the  capture  of  Fort  Kara  Dagh.  The 
other  forts,  especially  the  Arab-Tabia  on  the  east,  and  the  Tohakmok- 
Tabia  on  the  west,  maintained  a  stubborn  resistance  until  eight  o'clock, 
when  all  of  the  garrison  who  could  escape  fled  toward  Erzeroum.  But 
these  were  subsequently  overtaken  by  the  dragoons  and  Cossacks,  and 
brought  back  prisoners. 

The  fortress  and  city  of  Kars,  with  three  hundred  cannons,  stores, 
ammunition,  cash,  etc.,  fell  into  Russian  hands.  The  Turks  lost  five 
thousand  killed  and  wounded,  ten  thousand  prisoners,  and  many  flags. 
The  Russian  loss  was  about  two  thousand  seven  hundred.  The  Rus- 
sian soldiers  made  but  trifling  booty  and  spared  peaceful  citizens, 
women  and  children.  General  Loris  Melikoff  directed  the  battle 
during  the  day.  The  Grand  Duke  Michael  was  present  also.  The 
former  entered  the  city  at  eleven  o'clock  Sunday  morning. 


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